Bonus do, what to do if the zone is not A or B

13/01/2021 – Can the restyling of the facade of a condominium that carries out part of the interventions in an area not expressly mentioned by the legislation but similar to it of the competent body take advantage of the 90% facade bonus? A taxpayer asked the Revenue Agency.

With the Answer 23 of 8 January 2021, the Agency said yes. Let’s see why.

The question was posed by a condominium that has to carry out renovation and consolidation works on the external facade of buildings. Part of the interventions concern the ‘completion area B3’ e a part of a (minimum) area intended for ‘tertiary activities’. The instant evidence that the entire building has the same functional, typological and use characteristics of the neighboring buildings of the ‘completion area B3’ (in which it partially falls), while it has nothing in common with the buildings intended for tertiary activities .

The clarification requested concerns the possibility of applying the bonus facades, i.e. the deduction of 90% introduced by the 2020 Budget Law (article 1, paragraphs 219-224, Law 160/2019) e extended by the 2021 Budget Law, for all the work carried out and, in the event of a positive response, by transfer the corresponding credit to third parties, as required by article 121 of Legislative Decree 34/2020.

The doubt arises because the facade bonus can only be applied in the event of expenses aimed at the recovery or restoration of the external facade of the buildings located in zones A or B of cities, according to the indications of DM 1444/1968.

The facilitating measure – recalls the Agency – has been introduced to give a new look and decoration to cities of particular historical, artistic and environmental value and favor, in general, the restyling of buildings located in urban centers with certain characteristics.

Clarifications on the application of the facade bonus were provided by the Revenue Agency itself with the Circular 2/2020: the deduction is due for properties located in zones A and B indicated in article 2 of Ministerial Decree 1444/1968 o in areas equivalent to these based on regional legislation and municipal building regulations. Any assimilation must result from town planning certifications issued by the competent bodies.

Bonus do, what to do if the zone is not A or B

Returning to the case in question, the Agency recalls that, with Circular 2/2020 it confirmed the green light to the benefit also for interventions carried out in areas similar to zones A or B, with reference to regional legislation and municipal building regulations.

The criteria established by Ministerial Decree 1444/1968 – observes the Agency – identify, in the context of the exclusive state competence, homogeneous areas to establish urban planning facilities, building density limits, heights and distances between buildings to be observed in the formation of new urban planning tools or the revision of existing ones and these criteria were set by the legislator for the sole purpose of offering a uniform benchmark throughout the national territory.

Municipalities, however, they are not obliged to divide the territory on the basis of these classifications e related denominations.

Given this, the benefit can be applied regardless of the name of the area in which the property is located, provided that this is attributable or similar to one of those identified by the provision and the equivalence is certified by a certification of the competent territorial body.

Even in the hypothesis in question, therefore, the condominium, in order to benefit from the facade bonus, must have an urban planning certification which shows the equivalence in question. Otherwise, the subsidy will only apply to expenses referable to the part of the building located on the ‘completion area B3’.

Finally – concludes the Agency – the applicant can transform the deduction into a discount into an invoice or a tax credit which it can assign to third parties, including credit institutions and other financial intermediaries, as provided for in Article 121 of the Relaunch Decree.