Italy and Spain are both civil-law jurisdictions with forced heirship, both tax inheritance, and — unusually for Spain — they share a bilateral IHT treaty dating back to 1977. That treaty, together with Brussels IV and Spain's regional bonificaciones, gives Italian families significantly more planning room than most other nationalities. But only if the Italian and Spanish sides are designed together.
Italian families in Spain sit in a rare position. Italy is one of the very few countries with a bilateral inheritance tax treaty with Spain — signed in Madrid on 8 September 1977 and still in force. That treaty allocates taxing rights between the two states and prevents the kind of double taxation that catches German, French, Dutch, and Belgian families (France and Germany do have treaties too; the Netherlands and Belgium do not). For Italian clients, the treaty is the backbone of any cross-border estate plan.
At the same time, both jurisdictions protect forced heirs. Italian legittima under Articles 536–564 of the Codice Civile reserves fixed shares for the spouse, descendants, and in limited cases ascendants. Spanish legítima under Articles 806 onwards of the Código Civil reserves two-thirds of the estate for descendants, with a one-third mejora and a one-third free portion. Under Brussels IV (EU Regulation 650/2012) an Italian national habitually resident in Spain can elect Italian law to govern succession, keeping the familiar Italian framework — but Spanish IHT still applies to Spanish-situs assets and, where the heir is Spanish-resident, to worldwide assets.
Italian imposta sulle successioni is one of the lightest inheritance taxes in Europe: 4% for spouse and direct-line descendants above a €1,000,000 per-heir allowance, 6% for siblings above €100,000, 6% for other relatives up to the fourth degree with no allowance, and 8% for unrelated beneficiaries. Spanish national IHT, by contrast, can reach 34% before surcharges. The regional bonificaciones in Andalusia, Madrid, Valencia, Murcia, and the Balearics can reduce that to almost nothing for Group I and II heirs — but only if the planning is done properly. The 1977 treaty credits Italian tax paid against Spanish liability on the same assets, but it does not eliminate Spanish tax where Spain has primary taxing rights.
This page explains how Italian and Spanish succession law fit together, how the 1977 treaty allocates taxing rights, what legittima and legítima mean when both apply, and how Platinum Legal Spain designs Italian-expat estate plans that respect both systems simultaneously. It covers Italian residents owning Spanish holiday property, Italians who have moved to the Costa del Sol or Costa Blanca, mixed Italian–British and Italian–Spanish couples, Italian business owners with Spanish investments, and second-generation Italians (oriundi) coming back into Spain under the digital nomad visa or Beckham Law.
Italian estate planning in Spain is driven by four pillars: the 1977 bilateral treaty, Brussels IV law election, two sets of forced heirship rules, and the Spanish regional bonificación system. Ignore any one and the plan fails.
The 1977 Convention (Madrid, 8 September 1977) is one of only three IHT treaties Spain has in force (the others being with France and Germany). It allocates primary taxing rights by asset situs and domicile, and provides a credit mechanism to prevent double taxation.
How the treaty worksEU Regulation 650/2012 lets an Italian national habitually resident in Spain elect Italian law to govern succession. This keeps legittima intact and sidesteps the Spanish legítima system — while Spanish IHT still applies to Spanish assets.
Italian-law election draftingItalian legittima (Codice Civile 536–564) reserves half to the spouse when there are no children, or fixed shares to children and spouse together. Spanish legítima reserves two-thirds for descendants. Brussels IV chooses which applies substantively, but Spanish public policy limits remain.
Forced heirship coordinationItaly taxes worldwide assets of Italian residents and Italian-situs assets of non-residents. Spouse and direct descendants: 4% above €1m per heir. Siblings: 6% above €100k. Other relatives: 6% no allowance. Unrelated: 8% no allowance.
Italian tax positionAndalusia (99%), Madrid (99%), Valencia (99% for Group I/II from 2023), Murcia (99%), Balearics (100% Group I, 50% Group II). The treaty credit applies first, then the regional bonificación reduces the Spanish balance.
Regional planningArticles 768-bis to 768-octies of the Italian Codice Civile allow a living transfer of a family business or qualifying shareholding to one or more descendants, with forced-heir consent. Not recognised directly in Spain, but can be structured alongside Spanish holding companies.
Business successionThe 1977 Italy–Spain IHT treaty is often forgotten, even by Italian notaries who rarely encounter it. It matters enormously: without it, an Italian family with a Marbella villa could face Italian IHT and full Spanish IHT on the same asset, with no credit. With it, Spain has primary taxing rights on the villa, Italy credits the Spanish tax paid, and the regional bonificación reduces the Spanish liability. The treaty is self-executing and does not require annual claiming — but it does require correctly completed Italian and Spanish returns referencing the treaty.
Italian legittima is more generous to the spouse than Spanish legítima. In Italy, a surviving spouse with one child takes one-third; with two or more children, one-quarter, plus the right of habitation in the family home. In Spain, the spouse takes only a usufructo over one-third of the estate — ownership passes to the children. For mixed Italian–Spanish couples this matters: electing Italian law preserves the spouse's ownership share. We draft the will to make the election explicit and to document the Italian nationality that authorises it.
Italian residents returning to Spain after years abroad should also consider the Beckham Law (Article 93 LIRPF). It does not change IHT position (which follows civil residence, not income tax regime), but it does ring-fence Italian-source income for six years. Combined with a Brussels IV election and a planned property purchase timeline, it can produce a very favourable overall position.
We determine treaty residence under the 1977 Convention tie-breaker rules (domicile, permanent home, centre of vital interests), map every asset by situs, and identify which state has primary taxing rights on each. This governs credit direction.
We draft an Italian will (testamento pubblico or olografo) with a Brussels IV election of Italian law, and a Spanish will limited to Spanish assets. The Spanish will defers to the Italian-law election. Forced-heir shares are calculated under Italian rules.
We model Italian imposta sulle successioni, Spanish national IHT, the regional bonificación where applicable, and the treaty credit. We confirm which state taxes first and what net liability remains after offset.
We open the Italian successione at the Agenzia delle Entrate (dichiarazione di successione within 12 months), handle the Spanish Modelo 650 within 6 months, apply the treaty credit on the Spanish return, and coordinate bank release, property registration, and Italian catasto updates.
The Convention between Italy and Spain for the avoidance of double taxation on inheritance, signed in Madrid on 8 September 1977 and in force since 1979, is a short but powerful instrument. It covers Italian imposta sulle successioni and Spanish Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones (the D covers donations only partly). Article 4 defines treaty domicile using the OECD-style tie-breaker. Articles 5–8 allocate taxing rights by asset class. Article 12 provides the credit mechanism.
Real property (immovables) is taxed where located. So a Marbella villa owned by a Rome-resident deceased is taxed primarily by Spain. Italy may also tax it (Italy taxes worldwide assets of Italian residents) but must credit Spanish tax paid. Business assets of a permanent establishment are taxed where the establishment sits. Shares, bank accounts, and movable property are taxed by the deceased's domicile state.
Italian imposta sulle successioni was reintroduced in 2006 after a brief abolition under Berlusconi. Current rates: 4% spouse and lineal descendants/ascendants, with a €1 million allowance per heir (increased to €1.5m for disabled heirs); 6% siblings above €100,000 each; 6% other relatives to the fourth degree (no allowance); 8% unrelated beneficiaries (no allowance). There is no regional variation. Real estate transfers also trigger imposta ipotecaria (2%) and imposta catastale (1%) on cadastral value, or fixed €200 each if the heir qualifies for prima casa relief.
Legittima is codified in Articles 536 to 564 of the Codice Civile. The reserved portion depends on family structure. With a spouse and one child: spouse takes one-third, child takes one-third, free portion is one-third. With a spouse and two or more children: spouse takes one-quarter, children share half, free portion is one-quarter. With only a spouse and no children: spouse takes one-half, free portion is one-half. With only children and no spouse: one child takes half (free portion half); two or more children share two-thirds (free portion one-third). Disinherited or under-provisioned legittimari can bring an azione di riduzione within 10 years of the succession opening.
Spanish legítima, by contrast, fixes two-thirds for descendants (one-third tercio de legítima estricta divided equally, one-third tercio de mejora distributable among descendants by the testator's choice), with one-third tercio de libre disposición. The surviving spouse takes only a usufructo over the tercio de mejora if there are descendants, or wider usufructo rights where there are none. Brussels IV allows an Italian national to elect Italian law, displacing Spanish legítima entirely for substantive purposes — but Spanish courts will still refuse enforcement if the Italian-law outcome breaches Spanish public policy (orden público). In practice this means very extreme disinheritance of minor children could still be struck down.
Regional bonificación access for Italian heirs works exactly as for any other EU national since the 2014 ECJ ruling (Commission v Spain, C-127/12). An Italian resident in Rome inheriting a Madrid flat from an Italian parent resident in Marbella can claim Madrid's 99% bonificación on the Spanish IHT calculation. The treaty credit on the Italian side then reduces Italian imposta sulle successioni by the net Spanish tax paid. In most cases the Italian tax exceeds the Spanish net liability, so Italy collects the difference. Where Italian allowances exceed the base (common for spouse and children under the €1m per-heir threshold), Italian tax is nil and only the reduced Spanish amount is paid.
Patto di famiglia, introduced in 2006 under Article 768-bis of the Codice Civile, allows a lifetime transfer of a family business or qualifying shareholding (over 51% of voting rights, or in any case giving control) to one or more descendants, with the written consent of all legittimari. The consenting legittimari receive monetary compensation calculated as if the transfer were a succession. This is a powerful tool for Italian family companies but is not directly transposable into Spanish holding structures — we typically use a parallel Spanish donation with the 95% family business reduction (Article 20.2.c Ley 29/1987) to achieve a similar outcome on the Spanish side.
Italian pension treatment at death varies. Public INPS pensions pay a pensione di reversibilità to the surviving spouse and dependent children — outside the successione for IHT purposes. Private fondi pensione (Pillar II and III) pay death benefits to nominated beneficiaries, also outside successione. For Italian residents in Spain, coordination matters: the Spanish IHT base includes these amounts if the deceased was Spanish-resident, even though Italian tax does not.
The prima casa succession relief in Italy (imposta ipotecaria and catastale capped at €200 each) requires the heir to be Italian-resident and to use the property as main home. It does not apply to Spanish property. Conversely, the Spanish 95% reduction on the vivienda habitual (main home, up to €122,606 value reduction per heir, ten-year holding period) applies where the deceased was Spanish-resident and the property was the habitual home — available to Italian heirs on the same terms as Spanish heirs.
1977 treaty + Brussels IV + regional bonificación = the most efficient cross-border estate plan available to any EU nationality.
Request a Italian Estate ConsultationParents resident in Spain with children in Italy; non-resident property owners leaving Spanish assets to heirs abroad; surviving spouses, siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents — every cross-border configuration follows a different rulebook.
Both spouses Italian-resident, non-resident in Spain. Villa worth €900,000 in joint ownership. On first death, Spanish IHT applies at Andalusia's 99% bonificación; Italian imposta sulle successioni credits the Spanish tax under the 1977 treaty. Spouse inherits with minimal combined liability.
Retired Italian couple living in Valencia since 2019. Italian portfolio €1.2m, Valencia flat €400k, Italian family flat €300k retained. On death, Brussels IV elects Italian law for legittima. Valencia's 99% Group I/II bonificación applies to Spanish IHT; treaty credit on Italian side.
Italian entrepreneur resident in Madrid running an Italian manufacturing SRL and a Spanish SL holding company. Patto di famiglia on the Italian side transfers the SRL to the son with legittimari consent. Spanish 95% business reduction applies to the SL on death.
Italian wife, British husband, both resident in Málaga. Italian property in Puglia, Spanish family home. Wife elects Italian law under Brussels IV; husband elects English law. Coordinated Italian, Spanish, and English wills keep legittima and testamentary freedom in their proper places.
Third-generation Italian from Argentina with dual Italian citizenship, moving to Barcelona on DNV with Beckham-equivalent regime. Parents still in Buenos Aires. Brussels IV election of Italian law available via Italian nationality; Spanish IHT on Spanish-situs only.
Venetian parents, two Italian-resident children. Mallorca villa €1.1m, Italian estate €2m. On death, Balearic 100% Group I bonificación on the villa for children; treaty credit on the Italian side. Effective total IHT close to zero for children under the €1m per-heir Italian allowance.
Italian notaries and Spanish gestores often miss the treaty because it is rarely used. Without invoking it on both returns, double taxation is real. Always reference the Convention on Modelo 650 annex and in the Italian dichiarazione di successione.
They are not. Italian spouse protection is stronger; Spanish descendant protection is stronger. Brussels IV chooses one — you cannot pick and mix. Draft the election deliberately with an understanding of which family members benefit.
Italian prima casa reliefs apply only to Italian property used as main home by the Italian-resident heir. Spanish vivienda habitual reduction applies only to Spanish property of a Spanish-resident deceased. Do not assume either reaches the other.
Dichiarazione di successione is due within 12 months of death. Spain is 6 months (extendable by 6). Sequencing matters: Spanish return first (treaty credit flows into Italian return), but both must be filed on time.
Italy does not recognise joint wills (testamenti congiuntivi are void under Article 589 Codice Civile). Each spouse must have their own Italian will. Spanish wills should also be individual. The will architecture is always two or four documents, never one.
A patto di famiglia cannot directly transfer Spanish SL shares. You need a parallel Spanish donation structure. Planned together, the two achieve one coherent business succession — planned separately, they conflict.
Holiday homes in Andalusia, Valencia, Catalonia, or the Balearics owned by Rome, Milan, Turin, Bologna, or Naples-resident Italians. Treaty plus regional bonificación delivers near-zero Spanish IHT for Group I/II heirs.
Italians who have moved to the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Canarias, or the Balearics for retirement. Brussels IV election keeps legittima; bonificación protects the estate; treaty prevents double taxation.
Entrepreneurs running Italian and Spanish operations. Patto di famiglia plus Spanish 95% business reduction plus Brussels IV deliver a coordinated succession.
Italian–British, Italian–French, Italian–German, Italian–Spanish couples. Each nationality elects its own law; wills coordinate; treaty network (Italy has treaties with France, Germany, Spain) reduces exposure.
Argentine-Italian, Brazilian-Italian, US-Italian dual citizens coming into Spain under DNV, NLV, or Beckham Law. Italian nationality unlocks Brussels IV election even without prior Italian residence.
Italian €1.5m allowance for disabled heirs (Law 112/2016, Dopo di Noi) plus Spanish disability reduction (€47,859–€150,253 depending on degree) plus trust-equivalent structures. Requires careful bilateral drafting.
Brussels IV applied, wills drafted, Italy and Spanish tax positions coordinated, deadlines tracked.