PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – The Court of Cassation, Tax Section, in a decree dated Oct. 4, intervened on the issue of the rate to be applied to the establishment of surface right on agricultural land. The case originates from a settlement notice with which the Palermo Tax Agency, when checking the self-assessment made by the notary Costamante, noted the agricultural nature of the land subject to the deed of establishment of the surface right, subjected the contract to proportional registration tax at the rate of 15 percent, instead of the 9 percent rate applied by the notary, and liquidated, consequently, a registration tax of 137,797 euros. The delegated counsel of the Court of Cassation with reference to the appeal of the Internal Revenue Service against the ruling of the Tax Court of the Second Instance of the Region of Sicily, which had upheld the defense argument of the notary assisted by attorney Angelo Cuva of the Palermo Bar and attorney Giovanni Palmeri of the Rome Bar, proposed the accelerated settlement under Article 380-bis of the Code of Civil Procedure. The Supreme Court thus found inadmissible or in any case manifestly unfounded for conflict with previous guidance the assumption that the term “transfer” in Art. 1 of the tariff annexed to the Consolidated Law on Registration Tax should be interpreted in a broad sense, so as to include not only deeds of transfer of rights to agricultural land, but also constitutive deeds. The Court found that the ground of appeal raised by the Agency was inadmissible or otherwise manifestly unfounded, contrary to its established case law, thus justifying the adoption of the expedited procedure. According to the Court, in fact, deeds establishing surface rights on agricultural land discount the 9 percent rate, since they do not involve any transfer of ownership. It therefore, by decree, declared the case extinct, ordering the Internal Revenue Service to pay the court costs. The Court’s ruling, as Professor Cuva notes, provides precise and relevant interpretative indications that should lead to uniform nationwide application of the taxation of such deeds by the Internal Revenue Service, preventing further litigation on the matter.(ITALPRESS).-Photo: Cuva-
