My boyfriend and I will be moving to Milan next year and plan to stay for two years. We currently have 3 properties in the UK and have sufficient equity available to purchase a fourth. It seems to make sense for us to purchase our fourth property in or near Milan rather than purchase our fourth in the UK and then rent a place in Italy. However, as we are interested in the long term investment, I'm a bit worried that we are going to make things very complicated for ourselves in the future. Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

there are good tax breaks for italian residents (or soon to be residents) - so you've got that going for you if you buy in Italy. I guess it depends how long you'll stay - it might take you 6 to 9 months to find the right property - leaving you with 1 and a bit years to enjoy it! If you might stay longer, then its a different calculation. Still, no harm in renting to start with and then see how you like it. You'll probably find that your tastes in property change anyway. Cheers Neil

It's not that easy: you can only get residents' tax relief if you own the property for five years or more, or buy another property as a resident within a certain time frame. Taking up official residency to get the tax break is not an easy way out and should only be considered if you genuinely plan to live in Italy permanently for at least five years. Otherwise you might find yourself having to give rather a lot of money back to the authorities plus interest. Also, remember that residents of Italy have to pay tax on their worldwide income: that means either paying all your tax in Italy or hiring an international accountant to balance off the two tax returns... Sarah www.gardahomes.co.uk