
Since 2019, our country has been recognizing reduced taxation to those retirees who live abroad and want to come back to Italy to live here most of the year. Retirees living in the South: which are the benefits? Is it always the same? For everyone? In all regions?
Let me clarify these points a little bit. Tax relief for retirees who live in the South.
Which are the benefits for retirees living in the South? Italy introduced thanking to the 2019 Budget Law – article 1, paragraph 273 of law 145/2018 and to article 24-ter of the Tuir, a facilitated tax regime for those pensioners who decide to move to the south.
In a few words, non-resident retired people who receive income from foreign sources can take advantage of a taxation of 7% for five years, but they have to choose:
- to move to a Southern Region of the so called “tax free” area
- they have to live in the chosen area for a period of at least 183 days a year (184 in the case of a leap year).
- They must choose to live in a town with less than 20,000 inhabitants.
By choosing this option, they do not have the obligation to declare activities held outside of the country and are exempt from VAT (Ivie and Ivafe).
Among the southern regions in which you can get the tax discount we find Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia and even Campania.
What are the purposes of these regulations? First of all they aim to encourage investments, to increase consumptions and they try to revive those southern municipalities characterized by a low population density. The second purpose, which is also very important, is financing southern technical-scientific university research programs in order to develop innovative projects.
Foreign retirees in Italy
As I already said, these tax advantages is just for non- resident retirees who get retirement pensions of any kind provided exclusively by foreign subjects, who decide to move to Italy and live in one of the municipalities belonging to the regions indicated above.

I would like to add that non-resident individuals who receive a retirement pension from an italian social security institution, are excluded from these tax benefits.
On the contrary, the Italian citizens, residing for over five years abroad, who receive both a pension paid by the Country they lived in and an INPS pension and want to come back to Italy, will not be able to take advantage of the Inps pension facility, but they will be able to take advantage of the 7 per cent substitute rate on both the foreign pension and any other foreign source income.
Where to live in Italy as a retiree
Italy can be confirmed as an interesting destination for retirees residing abroad who receive income from a foreign source and decide to move to Italy. In Campania, in the province of Salerno and on the Amalfi Coast there’s a plenty of places to choose.

Vietri Sul Mare, Raito and the entire area of Cilento are places in which you may get the benefits I wrote about, since they are towns with less than 20000 inhabitants. In Lustra Cilento, for example, you can find a house for sale surrounded by olive trees and a vineyard.

I’m thinking about all those retirees who want to come back from abroad to live in the place in which they grew up, after working during so many years in a foreign country.
Let me tell you that, having obtained the international professional qualification conferred by Realtors® in the field of residential real estate, issued by the CRS – Certified Residential Specialist Designation, I am part of an international network that allows me to assist and help retirees residing abroad, both Italian and foreigners, fulfilling their dream.
I am also a member of NAR® (National Association of Realtors®), the most important association of the world, in this field. As a professional in real estate brokerage, partner of NAR®, I have accepted am Ethic Code: a fundamental document that regulates the laws of the US real estate sector.
Being a Realtor® means that I belong to an elite circuit that promotes relationships between colleagues in an expanding and excellent network. I am part of a network of professionals who share important values, a common vision and who want to have the chance to establish successful collaborations.
Having acquired the same standards as the best American real estate agents, I will be happy to help overseas citizens to sell or buy residential properties in the city of Salerno and throughout the Amalfi Coast.
If you are a resident abroad and receive a foreign pension and wish to spend most of the year in Italy or if you are an italian who just wants to come back, feel free to get in touch with me at 00390890977085 or write me – with no obligation – at immobiliare@andrearuocco.it, and let me figure out how to help you!
You can find us in the center of the city of Salerno at number 146 of Corso Garibaldi. You can park 50 meters away in Piazza della Concordia.
Ciao ! Andrea