Married, two homes, two residences: how IMU treats each spouse
Jobs in different cities, children at school in one place, a family house elsewhere: many couples split their lives between two Italian homes. Since 2022 the IMU follows each person.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
When a married couple owns two homes in Italy and each spouse genuinely lives in one, both homes can be exempt from IMU as main homes, even if they are in the same comune. The Constitutional Court established this with ruling no. 209 of 13 October 2022, which struck down the parts of article 1, paragraph 741 b), of Law 160/2019 that tied the main home to the whole family unit and limited a family to one exempt home. The test is now personal and double: registered residence (residenza anagrafica) and habitual dwelling (dimora abituale) in the home. A couple with a flat in Rome and another on Lake Como, each spouse living in one, pays nothing on either. If the lake flat is in fact a weekend place, it is a second home: an A/3 with €500 of rendita at Como’s rate of 0.96 % pays €806 a year. For couples who live abroad and keep homes in Italy, the ruling changes nothing: without Italian residence, neither home is a main home.
Two homes, two residences: each spouse’s IMU
IMU with genuine residence in each
€0
| If the second is not a main home | €1,068 |
| If neither is | €2,315 |
Rate 1.06 % on homes that are not exempt.
The rule before 2022 and what the Court changed
Until the ruling, the main home was defined as the unit where the owner and his or her family were resident and lived. When family members had their residences in different homes, the relief applied to only one property chosen by the family. The effect was that two unmarried partners could each exempt a home while a married couple could exempt only one. The Court found this incompatible with equality, family protection and the ability-to-pay principle, and removed the family references. From the 2022 ruling onwards, each owner’s situation is looked at alone.
Four couples, four results
A couple owns an A/2 flat in Rome (€800 of rendita, rate 1.14 %) and an A/3 flat in Como (€500 of rendita, rate 0.96 %). Their yearly IMU depends on where each of them really lives.
| Situation | Rome | Como | Couple total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Both live in Rome; Como flat used at weekends | €0 | €806 | €806 |
| Each spouse registered and actually living in one home | €0 | €0 | €0 |
| Both registered abroad (AIRE), Italian homes used on holiday | €1,532 | €806 | €2,339 |
| One spouse moves to Como in July, for good | €0 | €403 | €403 |
Living apart has to be real
The ruling did not touch the requirement of habitual dwelling. A comune that sees two spouses registered in two homes may check that each actually lives there. The signs it looks at are the ordinary ones of daily life: electricity, gas and water consumption consistent with a permanent presence, the place of work, the children’s school, the family doctor. A lake flat with consumption only in summer will not pass. Registering a residence that does not match reality also has consequences beyond IMU, since the registry office (anagrafe) may verify it.
Couples living abroad
Many readers of this site are couples living in the UK, Germany or the US with one or two homes in Italy. For them the 2022 ruling has no effect: the exemption requires Italian residence, so every Italian home is a second home. The relevant reliefs are elsewhere: half the tax for pensioners abroad with a pension under a treaty with Italy, on one home not let or lent, and the comuni’s targeted rates. See the guide for non-residents.
Refunds for past years
Couples who paid IMU on the second spouse’s home in years when they met the residence and dwelling conditions may claim a refund from the comune. The claim must be filed within five years of the payment (Law 296/2006, para. 164), and the comune has 180 days to pay. How to work out the amount is in the IMU refund guide.
Garages and children
Each spouse is entitled to his or her own exempt pertinenze in the home where he or she lives: one C/2, one C/6 and one C/7, so each home may keep its exempt garage. Children living with one parent do not change the calculation, because the ruling separated the exemption from the family’s composition. A third home owned by the parents and used by an adult child is a separate question, covered by the rules on the free loan (comodato).
Separated spouses are a different case
If you live apart because you have separated, what matters is the court order on the family home, which the law treats as a main home for the parent with custody of the children. The guide on separation and the family home explains who pays and who does not.
In practice
If each of you really lives in one of the homes, there is nothing to pay on either. Keep evidence of your living arrangements, and check that pertinenze stay within one per category. If one of you moved during the year, the exemption starts from the month in which the new situation covered more than half the days. If one home does not meet the conditions, choose the second home profile in the calculator to get the exact amount with that comune’s rate. If past years were missed, the ravvedimento operoso lets you settle with a reduced penalty before any check.