Judgment no. 43, filed on 16 February 2016 by the Commissione Tributaria Provinciale di Trieste (the Trieste Provincial Tax Court), granted the application filed by a marina assisted by Alberto Pasino (lawyer) and Prof. Enrico Maria Brioli (Engineer), stating that marinas are to be included in cadastral category E1.
The Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency), former Ufficio del Territorio (Italian Land Registry Office) had notified a notice of assessment through which it had corrected the cadastral income of properties located within a marina owned partly by the applicant and partly granted in state concession. In particular, according to the Agency, piers, docks and berths had to be classed in the cadastral category D8, with the consequent application of the revenue provided for this category. However, the provincial tax Court of Trieste, after having suspended the enforceability of the notice, accepted the applicant’s arguments, canceling the notice of assessment and stating that marinas must be considered ports in the full sense of the term and are to be included as such ‒for the peculiarity of their characteristics‒ in category E1. In general, according to the Court this category does not include buildings that, even though in the port area, have an autonomous functional and income status, although it is clear that the port ‒access to the sea by law‒ must be correctly qualified under property that falls under E1, therefore enjoying the exemption from ICI and IMU (property taxes).
The Court also stated that berths consist of ideal portions of the sea surface and, consequently, they cannot fall under the definition of building / land, an essential prerequisite in order to be registered in the Land Registry. In fact, the stretches of water on which boats float are not immovable properties and cannot, therefore, be subject to mandatory registration.
(Trieste Office – Alberto Pasino – 0039(0)407600281)
