The IMU exemption may also apply where a non-commercial entity grants a property free of charge to another non-profit entity for the purpose of carrying out qualifying activities on a non-commercial basis.
This principle was affirmed by the Lazio Regional Tax Court of Second Instance in Judgment No. 1724/2026, concerning a property granted on loan for use by a religious congregation to an association engaged in providing care and social reintegration services to individuals experiencing mental health difficulties.
The Municipality of Rome had denied the exemption provided for by Article 7(1)(i) of Legislative Decree No. 504/1992, arguing that the property-owning entity and the borrower did not belong to the same organisational structure and that the mere similarity of their statutory purposes was insufficient.
The Court instead upheld the annulment of the tax assessment notice, applying the authentic interpretation provision introduced by Article 1(71) of Law No. 213/2023.
Where a property is used indirectly, entitlement to the exemption requires all four of the following conditions to be met:
- the owner of the property must be a non-commercial entity;
- the property must be granted free of charge to another non-commercial entity under a loan-for-use arrangement;
- there must be a functional or structural link between the lender and the borrower;
- the borrower must use the property exclusively to carry out qualifying activities on a non-commercial basis.
In the case under consideration, the Court found that a genuine functional link existed between the two entities, since the care services provided free of charge by the borrower association pursued purposes falling squarely within the institutional remit of the property-owning congregation.
The lender and the borrower are therefore not required to belong to the same organisational structure. However, the loan-for-use arrangement must be entirely gratuitous, and the activities actually carried out at the property must pursue institutional purposes that are shared or closely connected.
