Law 512/82 - Taxation of assets of significant cultural interest

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In order to increase its assets, the State introduced a law offering citizens the possibility of substituting the payment of taxes with the cession of works of art, Law No. 512 of 2 August 1982 ‘Fiscal Regime of Assets of Significant Cultural Interest’. In particular, the reference is to the following articles: Art. 6 ‘Payment of Inheritance Tax by Transfer of Inheritance Assets’ and Art. 7 ‘Payment of Direct Taxes by Transfer of Cultural Assets’.

Works that can be transferred include contemporary art works (i.e. not more than 70 years old and therefore not protected under the Cultural Heritage Code) provided, of course, that they have an indisputable artistic value.

The proposal must be addressed to the competent Superintendency which, after a series of verifications, forwards the request to the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The General Directorate, once the application has been assessed, submits it to a special Inter-Ministerial Commission. Taxpayers may submit a proposal for the transfer of the asset, complete with personal data and signed, by sending it by registered mail with return receipt, or by Certified Electronic Mail or by hand, to the peripheral institutes of the Ministry of Culture competent by subject matter and territory of residence (in the case of book assets to the General Directorate for Libraries and Copyright) and to the competent territorial office of the Revenue Agency, attaching the following documentation:

1. declaration of ownership of the property;
2. technical characteristics and location of the work;
3. applicant's assessment of the economic value of the works proposed for transfer;
4. adequate photographic documentation of the work, also in digital format;
5. declaration of tax debts to be paid by means of the transfer of the asset;
6. any request by the person concerned to be heard by the Commission.

The entire procedure is specified in Circular No. 23 of 17 July 2015 of the General Secretariat of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Form A - Payment of inheritance tax pursuant to Art. 6 of Law 512/82
Form B - Payment of direct taxes pursuant to Art. 7 of Law 512/82