IMU on a lake home: how much, where, when

IMU is paid by whoever holds the property: the owner, or the holder of a right in rem such as usufruct. Where there are several owners, each pays on their own share².

Whoever lives there does not pay: the main residence is outside the tax. But the law defines it narrowly, as the home where the owner and their household habitually live and are registered as residents². A lake house used for holidays, or owned by someone resident in another country, counts as an «other building» and pays.

A main home registered in categories A/1, A/8, A/9 (high-class home, villa, castle or palace of particular merit) also pays, at its own rate and with a deduction of €200 a year².

Garages, cellars and sheds (categories C/6, C/2, C/7) follow the house: for a main residence at most one per category is exempt; for a second home they pay like the house, unless the municipality has set a different rate²¹.

For «other buildings» the law sets a basic rate of 0.86%, which the municipality may raise up to 1.06% or lower to zero; for a main home in categories A/1, A/8, A/9 the basic rate is 0.5%, adjustable by 0.1 points upwards or down to zero². Since 2025 every municipality has had to set its rates through a schedule («prospetto») completed on the Ministry of Economy's portal, which the Department of Finance publishes⁴¹.

On 25 October 2026 we looked up the 2026 schedules of the thirteen municipalities on the Department of Finance website and read the twelve that are published¹. The second column gives the rate for a home kept for the owner's own use (categories A/2 to A/7, neither let nor lent); the third, the resulting yearly IMU for every €1,000 of cadastral income.

Four cases worth reading twice

• Pettenasco: the general rate for other buildings is 0.86%, but for homes kept for own use (not let, not lent) and for garages and cellars kept for own use the municipality has set 0.95%; the same 0.95% applies to homes let under a contract¹.
• Madonna del Sasso: a second home in categories A/2 to A/7 pays 0.88%, but an A/1, A/8, A/9 home that is neither let nor lent, or let for periods of under a year and under 48 months in total, pays 1.06%¹.
• San Maurizio d'Opaglio: the house pays 1%, while garages, cellars and other property in categories C, B and A/10 pay 0.95%¹.
• Omegna: 1.06% for a second home, but 0.76% for a home let at an agreed («concordato») rent to a tenant who lives there as their main residence, or under a temporary contract (Law 431/1998, art. 2(3) and art. 5(1))¹.

Among the municipalities with a 2026 schedule, only in Madonna del Sasso and Pettenasco does a second home pay less than 0.96%; Ameno, Gozzano, Miasino and Omegna are at the maximum the law allows. Between the most and the least expensive municipality, on a cadastral income of €2,000, the difference is €604.80 a year.

Armeno. As of 25 October 2026 the Department of Finance publishes no 2026 schedule for Armeno, and the 2025 one is marked «ineffective» because it was published after 28 October 2025¹. The law says that without a resolution with its schedule published by 28 October, the basic rates apply: 0.86% for a second home, 0.5% for a luxury main residence². Before paying the balance, ask the municipal tax office to confirm.

The calculation starts from the cadastral income («rendita catastale») in force on 1 January², shown in the land registry extract and in the purchase deed:

1. cadastral income × 1.05 (5% revaluation) × 160 = taxable base, for homes (group A except A/10) and for C/2, C/6, C/7;
2. taxable base × the municipality's rate = IMU for the year;
3. if you own the property for only part of the year, you pay by the month: a month is counted when you held the property on more than half of its days, and the deed day goes to the buyer.

An example. In the guide Purchase costs compared we assumed a house with a cadastral income of €2,000. Its IMU taxable base is €336,000: as a second home it would pay €3,225.60 a year in Orta San Giulio, €3,192.00 in Pettenasco, €3,561.60 in Omegna, €2,956.80 in Madonna del Sasso.

If you have a market value rather than the cadastral income, the tool From cadastral value to market shows how far apart the two numbers can be.

• Buildings of historic or artistic interest (art. 10 of the Cultural Heritage Code): taxable base reduced by 50%². This applies to buildings listed as cultural heritage, not merely to being in a protected landscape area.
• Buildings declared unfit for use or habitation and actually unused: base reduced by 50% for the period they are so, with a survey by the municipal technical office or a sworn statement by a qualified technician². Relevant to anyone buying a ruin to restore.
• Free loan to children or parents who live there: base reduced by 50%, but only with a registered contract and if the person lending the home lives in the same municipality and owns no other dwelling in Italy besides their own². For someone living abroad, therefore, it does not apply.
• Letting at an agreed («concordato») rent: tax reduced to 75%².
• Pensioners resident abroad whose pension accrued under an international social security agreement with Italy: on one dwelling only, neither let nor lent, IMU is due at half and the waste tax is cut by two thirds³. Being a pensioner is not enough: it has to be that kind of pension.

There are two deadlines: the advance by 16 June, the rest by 16 December; you may also pay it all in June. The first instalment is half of the tax worked out with the previous year's rates; the December balance uses the rates in the schedule published by 28 October².

Payment is made with the F24 form, the dedicated postal slip or the pagoPA platform². On the F24, section «IMU e altri tributi locali», the tax code is 3918 for other buildings, 3912 for a main residence and 3916 for building land; the «codice ente» field takes the municipality's cadastral code⁵¹:

From abroad. If you cannot use the F24, you pay by bank transfer to the municipality: the Department of Finance says to ask the municipality for instructions and its IBAN, to put your Italian tax code, «IMU», the municipality's name, the tax codes, the year and «Acconto» (first instalment) or «Saldo» (balance) in the payment reference, and then to send the municipality a copy of the transfer⁶. That notice dates from 2012 and also provided for a share payable to the State: for a house today the State has no share, because its reserved portion concerns only productive buildings in group D².

The waste tax (TARI) is a separate levy, with tariffs each municipality sets every year: we have not collected it in this guide. One-off purchase costs are in Purchase costs compared; if you are thinking of letting, see Renting out your lake home.