Emirati family: golden visa and luxury real estate investment in Rome

A forty seven year old Emirati citizen, resident in Dubai, founder and majority shareholder of a family group active in the hospitality and real estate sector with properties distributed between the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain. The group included a chain of boutique hotels, a portfolio of commercial properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and an asset management company registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

The family unit consisted of the client, the spouse and three children: the eldest enrolled at a London university, the two younger attending an international school in Dubai. The project envisaged the acquisition of a representative apartment in the historic center of Rome, to be used both as a personal residence and as a base for the expansion of the group into the European hospitality market, and the obtaining of the Italian visa for investors allowing entry and residence in Italy with the possibility of circulating within the Schengen area according to the ordinary rules.

The LAW FIRM structured an integrated path coordinating the investor visa process, the real estate acquisition and tax planning as interdependent elements of a single transaction, with a timeline that took into account family needs and the school year of the younger children.

1. Pre screening and investor visa documentation

• Complete mapping of the client’s asset structure: reconstruction of the ownership chain from the Emirati operating companies to the DIFC vehicles up to the Channel Islands trust, with documentation of the origin of funds through certified financial statements, bank statements and corporate records
• Preparation of the dossier for the interministerial Committee: documentation relating to the qualifying investment provided by the regulations, with details of the target property, projection of maintenance of the investment for the two year period, financial and professional documentation of the applicant
• Coordination with the Consulate of Italy in Dubai for the submission of the visa application, following the letter of clearance issued by the Committee
• Management of the applications for each member of the family unit, including analysis of the specific path for the adult child attending university in London

2. Real estate acquisition

• Identification of the prestigious property in the quadrant between Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Navona through the LAW FIRM network of contacts with agencies specialized in the luxury segment: a representative apartment in a historic building with monumental views
• In depth due diligence: verification of title, mortgage and cadastral searches, verification of urban planning and building compliance, analysis of Superintendence restrictions, verification of the absence of pre emption rights by the State on the restricted property
• Negotiation of the price and preparation of the preliminary contract with suspensive clauses linked to the obtaining of the clearance for the investment provided by the regulations on the Investor Visa
• Coordination of financial flows: transfer from the DIFC account to the dedicated notarial account, with complete anti money laundering documentation for the notary executing the deed and for the Italian banking institution
• Assistance at the deed and registration of the act, with management of the related tax obligations (registration tax, mortgage tax and cadastral tax)

3. Tax planning

• Cost benefit analysis of the substitute tax regime on foreign income (flat tax 200,000 euros): comparison between the fixed annual cost of the regime and the tax burden that would derive from the ordinary taxation of the client’s worldwide income, taking into account the absence of taxes in the Emirates
• Structuring of the Italian tax position for the first year: determination of the date of acquisition of tax residence, management of the return for the split period, option for the substitute regime
• CFC analysis on foreign shareholdings and on the trust: determination of the companies and vehicles falling within the scope of the Italian CFC legislation and definition of compliance strategies
• Preparation of the RW form for monitoring financial and asset holdings held abroad: Emirati bank accounts, corporate shareholdings, trusts, properties in the Gulf

4. Family settlement

• Registration with the population registry and obtaining of the tax code for all members of the family unit
• Enrollment of the two younger children at an international school in Rome: identification of the institution, management of the equivalence of qualifications and admission procedures
• Opening of Italian bank accounts and establishment of the relationship with a private banking institution for asset management within the territory
• Activation of health coverage: international private policy integrated with voluntary enrollment in the National Health Service
• Coordination of the apartment renovation project with an architectural firm specialized in restricted properties, including the request for authorization from the Superintendence

“ In Dubai we do not pay income taxes, and our first concern was understanding what the tax impact of moving to Italy would be. We had heard about the regime for new residents, but we did not know whether it could apply to our situation with companies in several countries and a family trust. Then there was the visa: demonstrating the origin of the funds through a structure with multiple corporate levels required documentation that we alone would not have known how to prepare. The LAW FIRM managed everything in parallel: the dossier for the Committee, the search for the apartment in the center of Rome with all checks on historical restrictions, tax planning and the enrollment of the children at school. In seven months we were in Rome with everything in order.”