Italy's Sardinia island has introduced a luxury tax for non-residents who own property in the island or dock their yachts on Sardinia's coasts, Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported. The region's centre-left government, led by Renato Soru, passed legislation imposing a package of taxes on second homes, private yachts, aircraft and even hotel rooms.
Italy's Sardinia island has introduced a luxury tax for non-residents who own property in the island or dock their yachts on Sardinia's coasts, Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported. The region's centre-left government, led by Renato Soru, passed legislation imposing a package of taxes on second homes, private yachts, aircraft and even hotel rooms.
Under the new law, non-residents that own large villas on the coast are to pay an additional EUR 16 per m2 per annum whilst yacht-owner will be charged an annual fee ranging from EUR 1,000 to EUR 15,000. At the same time, hotels are allowed to charge tourists EUR 1-2 per night.
The island has become a very popular holiday destination amongst Italians and foreigners, including former conservative premier Silvio Berlusconi who has a 27-room villa along the Coast Smeralda. Some 200,000-300,000 non-residents are estimated to have a second house in Sardinia. Prices have rocketed in recent years on the Emerald Coast, the most expensive part of the island, reaching EUR 24,000 per m2, according to the Wealth Report 2007 published by real estate agency Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank.