The dry coupon is an optional taxation regime on leases because you can freely choose whether to adhere to the coupon, thus having advantages that are substantiated in the payment of a substitute tax for personal income tax and the additional ones and in the exemption from the payment of the register and stamp duty, normally due for registration, termination and extension of lease contracts. By choosing the dry coupon, the owner of the property also renounces the right to request, for the entire duration of the option, the update of the rent, even if it is foreseen in the contract, including the variation ascertained by Istat of the national index of consumer prices for the families of workers and employees of the previous year.
The owners and holders of the real right of enjoyment (for example, usufruct) can choose the regime of the dry coupon on rents, but only for properties that fall into the cadastral categories from A1 to A11, rented for residential use and for the relevant appurtenances. It is not possible to choose the coupon for the rental of properties used for offices or private offices, falling in the cadastral category A10.
You can opt for the dry coupon regime:
• registration of the lease
• the extension of the lease contract
The rules for the declaration: With regard to taxes, then, the coupon applies only from the year for which the option was made, that is, it coincides with the contractual years. In practice, those who now opt for the coupon will have to pay in any case the July advance for 2014 on the basis of the rent subject to Irpef, while they will not have to pay the coupon advance. In November, if you wish, you can reduce the down payment in consideration of the coupon, but in any case you have to do the calculations carefully because for those who pay less than they should the penalties are high. In 2015, however, the balance of the coupon will be paid for 2014 plus the advances of the same coupon for 2015. In addition, a registered letter must be sent to the tenant to warn that the annual contractual increases will no longer be due, as the option for the coupon blocks them.
When the coupon may not be convenient: The coupon, even in the new light version, in principle always suits those who have other income than the rental income. In this situation it is in fact possible to continue to take advantage of any deductions for medical or restructuring expenses or for dependent family members, and in addition the rental income does not add up to the other income and therefore does not trigger the higher rate. Those who, on the other hand, have no income other than renting may not have the convenience of making the option in all cases in which they have expenses to be deducted such as to eliminate the taxes on the rent. It is, however, a theoretical discourse in that the only way of knowing whether it is better to opt or not is to check how much one should pay with one or the other regime.
