Buying a US Home from Italy: Mortgage, Visa and Tax Facts

Q: What can I show a US lender about my credit history in Italy?

The Banca d'Italia runs the Centrale dei Rischi, a database of what households and businesses owe to the banking and financial system. You can obtain your own data free of charge, online with SPID, CNS or CIE, by post or at a branch. It will not create a US credit score, and whether a lender considers it is the lender's decision, but it is an official document that costs nothing.

Q: Do I pay Italian tax on a home I own in the United States?

If you are resident in Italy, yes. The Agenzia delle Entrate levies IVIE on real estate held abroad, at an ordinary rate of 1.06% of the property's value from 2024, in proportion to your share and the months you owned it. The property is also declared in quadro RW of your tax return. Ask an adviser how US property tax interacts with it.

Q: Do I keep the tax credit for mortgage interest on my Italian home?

The 19% credit applies to interest on a mortgage for your main home. According to the Agenzia delle Entrate, the right ends from the tax year after the property stops being your main home, with an exception where the change is due to a transfer for work. How that exception applies to a move abroad, or once the home is let, should be confirmed with a commercialista.

Q: Does buying a home help with an E-2 visa?

No. The E-2 is for a substantial investment placed at risk in a real, operating business. A home you live in is not that kind of investment, whatever it costs. Italians have access to the E-2 under the 1949 treaty, but the business has to stand on its own.

Italy and the United States at a glance

Figures last checked: 3 October 2026

Visiting: In the Visa Waiver Program since 1989: viewing trips need an ESTA, not a visa.
Treaty visas: E-1 trader and E-2 investor status available, under the treaty in force since 26 July 1949.
Income tax treaty: Yes, in force.
Estate tax treaty: Yes (estate tax only).
Social security agreement: Yes, since 1 November 1978, the oldest of all US agreements.
Currency: Euro, so the down payment carries exchange-rate risk against the dollar.
Already there: About 285,000 people born in Italy live in the United States (Census Bureau, 2024).

Your route into the United States

Italian citizens travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, which is all you need to view homes. To live there you need a status of your own, and the mortgage follows from it. Lenders offer mainstream loans to people who are lawfully resident, on a green card or a temporary visa. Without residency, the usual route is a foreign national loan with a larger down payment and a higher rate.

Entrepreneurs often ask about the E-2, open to Italians since 1949. It requires a real operating business. The guide to visa status and US loans explains how each status changes the financing.

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What a US lender sees of your Italian finances

A US credit score is built only from what US lenders report, so your history in Italy does not appear in it. Request your Centrale dei Rischi data before you go. It is free, it comes from the central bank, and it gives a lender something concrete to read.

For income and savings, Fannie Mae's rules set the tone across much of the market: income paid by a foreign employer in foreign currency needs two years of US federal tax returns behind it, documents have to be in English or translated, and assets held abroad must be converted into dollars and held in a US-regulated institution before closing. Start the translations and the transfer early.

From compromesso to closing

In Italy the parties set the date of the final deed in the preliminary contract, and a notary can register that contract to protect the buyer until the deed is signed. The pace is whatever you agree.

In the United States the convention is 30 to 45 days from accepted offer to closing, with a deposit of typically 1% to 5% paid at the start and held by a neutral party. There is no notary in the Italian sense. A title or escrow company, or an attorney in some states, collects the money and records the deed, and the lender requires title insurance. Read how the US timeline compares with Europe before you make an offer.

Italian tax on a home abroad and at home

If you stay resident in Italy and buy in the United States, plan for IVIE every year: 1.06% of the property's value from 2024, with no payment due where the total is 200 euros or less. The property also goes into quadro RW. On top of that the United States taxes any rent at source, at 30% of the gross amount unless you elect to be taxed on net income and file a US return.

If you sell your Italian home to fund the move, a gain on property sold within five years of purchase is generally taxable, with an exception for a home that was your main residence for most of the period you owned it. And if you keep the home, the 19% credit on mortgage interest is tied to it remaining your main home.

Estate tax

For someone who is neither a US citizen nor a US resident, a US estate tax return is required once US assets, including real estate, exceed $60,000. Italy is one of nine EU countries with a US estate tax treaty. Italian succession law also reserves shares for close family, so the way you hold a US home deserves advice before the purchase.

Checklist for Italian buyers

Confirm your US status and its timing.
Request your Centrale dei Rischi data and collect tax returns, payslips and bank statements.
Have the documents translated into English.
Budget for IVIE and quadro RW if you remain resident in Italy.
Check the five-year rule before selling your Italian home.
Open a US account, transfer the down payment early and plan the currency conversion.
Take advice on succession and the estate tax treaty before signing.

Questions people moving from Europe ask

What can I show a US lender about my credit history in Italy?

Do I pay Italian tax on a home I own in the United States?

Do I keep the tax credit for mortgage interest on my Italian home?

Does buying a home help with an E-2 visa?

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Sources (11)

Figures and rules on this page were checked against these sources on 3 October 2026. Rates, prices and local rules change, so confirm anything you rely on before you commit.

Made, reviewed and approved by Bas Terpstra, AFM- and PGN-certified
Basterpstra B.V., Drachten, the Netherlands (AFM 12050993)

Who made this guide. Bas Terpstra makes, reviews and approves every guide, using AI tools and public sources as a starting point. Rules and figures change, so treat this as general information and confirm the details for your own situation.

This page is general information, not personal financial, legal, tax or immigration advice. Nothing here is an offer, and no rate, loan amount, approval or visa outcome is promised. Mortgage availability is subject to immigration status, income, credit, appraisal and lender criteria, and lending, tax and local rules change. Consult a licensed US lender, an immigration attorney and a cross-border tax adviser. Any property securing a loan may be at risk if payments are not made.