IVAFE and IVIE: Italy's taxes on foreign assets

Once you're tax resident in Italy, Rome doesn't just tax your income: it charges a small yearly tax on the value of what you own abroad, and that includes your brokerage account and the house in Ohio.

The short version

IVAFE is a yearly tax on financial assets held outside Italy. The standard rate is 0.2% of their value, and bank and savings accounts pay a fixed EUR 34.20 instead [2][3].
Small accounts are spared: the fixed charge isn't due when the average yearly balance is EUR 5,000 or less [2][3].
IVIE is a yearly tax on real estate abroad. The standard rate went from 0.76% to 1.06% starting in 2024 [4].
You report both on the quadro RW of your Italian tax return, along with your foreign holdings, even when no tax is due [3].
Uncle Sam doesn't give you a credit for them, because the US foreign tax credit is generally limited to income taxes [6]. They're an extra cost of living in Italy, not a wash.

USD conversions in this guide use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (USD 1.1163 per EUR 1), rounded. This is general information; a US expat tax preparer, working with an Italian commercialista, can check your situation.

Who pays

Both taxes apply to individuals who are tax resident in Italy and hold assets abroad, however they got them, including by inheritance or gift [1][2]. The Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy's IRS, describes IVAFE payers simply as "persone fisiche residenti in Italia che detengono all'estero attività finanziarie" [1].

If you're a tourist, or you live in Rome but haven't become Italian tax resident, these don't apply. Tax residence is its own question, tied to things like your registration at the anagrafe and where your life is centered, and it's worth getting clear on before your first Italian return.

If you own something jointly, each owner reports the full value and their own percentage, and pays on their share [2].

IVAFE: the tax on your financial assets

IVAFE stands for imposta sul valore delle attività finanziarie detenute all'estero. It covers the things Americans usually leave behind in the States: brokerage accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs, and bank accounts.

What you hold abroad	IVAFE	Example	About in USD
Checking and savings accounts, savings books	Fixed EUR 34.20 a year	One US bank with an average balance over EUR 5,000	USD 38
Same, with average balance of EUR 5,000 or less	Not due	Small US checking account	USD 0
Other financial products (stocks, funds, bonds)	0.2% of value	EUR 100,000 brokerage account: EUR 200	USD 223
Financial products in a country on Italy's list of privileged tax regimes, from 2024	0.4% of value	EUR 100,000: EUR 400	USD 447

Sources: Agenzia delle Entrate quadro RW instructions [2] and Money.it, April 2026 [3].

A few details that matter:

The value used is generally the market value at year-end, or at the end of the period you held the asset [2].
The amounts are prorated by the share you own and the days you held it [2]. Move to Rome in July and your first year is roughly half.
The EUR 5,000 test for accounts looks at the average balance across all your accounts at the same bank, according to Money.it's 2026 guide [3]. Two small accounts at different banks are judged separately.
Wealth taxes paid abroad can be credited, up to the IVAFE due [2]. The US has no federal wealth tax, so for most Americans this credit doesn't come into play.

The EUR 34.20 figure appears in both the Agenzia delle Entrate's quadro RW instructions [2] and current 2026 guides [3]. The instructions we could open were an older edition, because the agency's current IVAFE pages didn't load when we checked, so have your commercialista confirm the current year's figures.

What about your 401(k) and IRA?

This is the big gray area. Whether US retirement accounts such as a 401(k), a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA count as financial assets for IVAFE, and how they go on the quadro RW, depends on how the plan is set up and on Italian guidance that isn't simple to apply to American products. We couldn't find an official Agenzia delle Entrate page that answers it plainly for US plans. Many people at least report them on the RW to be safe. This is exactly the kind of question to put to an Italian adviser who has US clients.

IVIE: the tax on property abroad

IVIE, the imposta sul valore degli immobili situati all'estero, is the property-side twin. If you kept your house back home and rent it out, or just hang on to it, Italy taxes its value every year.

	Rate	Example	About in USD
Standard rate, from 2024	1.06%	House valued at EUR 400,000: EUR 4,240	USD 4,730
Before 2024	0.76%	Same house: EUR 3,040	USD 3,390
Main home in a luxury category (A/1, A/8, A/9)	0.4%, with a EUR 200 deduction

Sources: Fisco e Tasse, January 2024 [4]; Agenzia delle Entrate quadro RW instructions [2].

Your main home is generally exempt, unless it's in one of the luxury categories, but that's your main home in the Italian sense. Once you live in Rome, the house in the States usually isn't it.

The good news: property taxes you pay in the US on that house can be credited against the IVIE, up to the IVIE due [2]. In states with high property taxes, that credit can wipe out much of the IVIE on a stateside house. Keep your county tax bills.

The quadro RW: reporting it all

The quadro RW is the section of the Redditi Persone Fisiche return (Italy's equivalent of Form 1040) where you list foreign investments and assets and work out the IVIE and IVAFE [2]. You file it even when no tax is due [3]. The precompiled 730 return now has its own section for foreign assets, called quadro W.

Old versions of the rules skipped small foreign bank accounts for reporting purposes if their maximum value stayed under a set limit during the year, unless IVAFE was due [2]. That limit has changed over the years, so check the current instructions.

Paying

IVAFE and IVIE are paid with the F24 form on the same calendar as Italian income tax: a balance for last year plus advances for this year. For 2026, the first payment of the 2025 balance and the 2026 first advance was due by June 30, 2026, and people paying in installments made their fourth installment by September 16, 2026, with interest of 0.84% [1]. The IVAFE tax codes are 4043 for the balance and 4047 for the first advance [1].

Getting the RW wrong, or skipping it, can bring penalties, which is one more reason Americans in Italy tend to hire a commercialista rather than wing it.

How it fits with your US taxes

Here's where Americans get a double dose of paperwork.

The IRS also wants to know about those accounts, just from the other direction. You still file the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if your foreign accounts, now meaning your Italian ones, add up to more than USD 10,000 at any time during the year [5]. You may also owe Form 8938: for Americans living abroad, the thresholds are over USD 200,000 at year-end or USD 300,000 at any time for single filers, and USD 400,000 and USD 600,000 for married couples filing jointly [5]. Real estate you own directly abroad isn't reported on either form [5].

No foreign tax credit for IVAFE or IVIE. The IRS says that generally only income, war profits and excess profits taxes qualify for the credit [6]. A tax on the value of your assets isn't an income tax, so as a general rule it won't reduce your US bill. Treat it as a cost of living in Italy.

The treaty doesn't fix this. The US–Italy income tax treaty deals with income taxes. It doesn't turn IVAFE or IVIE into something creditable in the US.

A quick checklist

List every account and asset you hold outside Italy, with year-end values and dates opened or closed.
Gather US property tax bills for any real estate.
Give it all to your commercialista for the quadro RW.
Give your Italian account details to your US preparer for the FBAR and Form 8938.
Budget for the IVAFE and IVIE in June, alongside your Italian income tax.

Want to compare notes with other Americans who've been through a first RW? Ask in our community group for Americans in Italy.

IVAFE and IVIE: the Italian taxes on your US accounts and house