Accountants Como
Accountantsin Como.
Italian residency, IMU, and holding structures.
Lake Como Province of Como
Everything the rest of the lake has to travel for is here: hospitals, schools including international options in the wider province, banks, notaries, surveyors, professional practices, builders' merchants and the boatyards and chandlery that serve the branch. When a villa two hours north needs a specialist, the specialist very often comes from Como.
For owners elsewhere on the lake that makes the city a practical anchor rather than only a destination. Renovation projects further up the shore are generally administered from here, and the trades that matter most on historic houses, among them stonemasons, restorers and joiners working to conservation standards, are concentrated in the province rather than in the villages. The constraint in the city itself is not finding people but working within a protected historic centre where access, permissions and hours are all regulated.
For how this trade works across the whole lake, what to ask for, how the firms are chosen and what goes wrong, read accountants on Lake Como. For the village itself, read our guide to Como.
Editorial note: we have not yet written up how this trade works in Como specifically, so this page is kept out of search until we have. The introduction itself is unaffected. Ask and we will make it.
On the network
5 firms
Held across the lake rather than in one village. We introduce the two we would use ourselves for the job in front of you.
01What they do
The annual property filings
The municipal property tax due to the comune where the house stands, the local waste charge, and keeping the deadlines when you are not in the country.
Letting income
Declaring income from renting the house, and making sure the fiscal treatment matches how the letting is actually registered and run.
Residence and moving
Establishing where you stand under the Italian tests, what changes if you cross the line, and how the treaty with your own country applies.
Working with your adviser at home
Talking directly to your accountant abroad so that the two sides of your position are consistent rather than merely both correct in isolation.
Questions
Do I need an Italian accountant if I only own a holiday house on Lake Como?
In most cases yes, because the property brings recurring local charges and filings that are easy to miss from abroad, and because penalties accumulate quietly.
If the house is never let and your affairs are otherwise entirely outside Italy, the engagement can be a small one. It still needs somebody local who receives the correspondence, knows the comune and files on time. Owners who rely on a friend or an agent to handle this are the ones we most often meet dealing with arrears.
What is IMU, and who pays it?
IMU is the Italian municipal property tax. It is generally due on second homes, it is set and collected by the comune where the property is located, and it is paid in instalments during the year by the owner.
Because it is a municipal tax, the position differs from one comune to another around the lake, and the treatment depends on how the property is classified and used. There are separate local charges, notably for waste. We do not publish rates for any of them; your accountant will calculate the figure for your property.
How are Italian accountants charged?
Usually an annual engagement fee covering the recurring filings for a property, with additional work such as letting, residence advice or a change in circumstances quoted separately. We do not publish rates.
For an owner with a straightforward second home the recurring engagement is modest relative to the cost of missing a deadline. Agree in writing what the annual fee covers, particularly whether it includes correspondence with the comune and with your adviser at home.
Written by The Como Private Desk
This page is editorial information, not financial advice. Figures move with the market and with your circumstances; take advice from a qualified adviser before acting on anything here.
For people who work on the lake
Are you the bestat what you do here?
The list we introduce from is short and grows slowly: by working with somebody, seeing how a job goes, and only then adding them. If that is the standard you hold yourself to, tell us who you are. We read every one. We check work before we introduce anybody, and no money passes in either direction.
Put yourself forward