When you agree to buy a house in Italy, money changes hands long before the deed. Usually it is paid as a caparra confirmatoria, a confirmatory deposit. It is more than a down payment. Under Italian law it tells both sides what happens if one of them walks away. Here is how it works, how much buyers usually pay, what it costs to register, and the clauses we would check before signing.
This guide covers the deposit only. For the offer and preliminary contract it sits in, see purchase offers and preliminary contracts, and for the full process, our guide to buying a home in Puglia.
What the law says
The confirmatory deposit is set out in article 1385 of the Italian Civil Code. In plain terms:
- If the sale goes ahead, the deposit counts toward the price.
- If the buyer backs out without a valid reason, the seller can withdraw from the contract and keep the deposit.
- If the seller backs out, the buyer can withdraw and claim double the deposit: their own money back plus the same amount again.
- Instead of withdrawing, the party who was let down can go to court to enforce the contract or claim full damages. In that case the deposit does not cap the damages, but the loss has to be proved.
Its cousin, the caparra penitenziale (article 1386), works differently. It is the agreed price of a right to withdraw, so the party who pays it can walk away legally by giving it up. Buyers sometimes sign one without knowing. Read the wording.
Caparra vs. acconto
An acconto is a plain advance on the price. If the deal fails, it is simply returned, and there is no penalty in either direction. A caparra confirmatoria protects you when the seller gets a better offer; an acconto does not. Many preliminary contracts include both: a caparra at signing and acconti later, for example when a renovation reaches a milestone. The contract must say which is which.
When you pay it
In a typical purchase in Puglia the money moves in three steps:
- Purchase offer (proposta d’acquisto), usually made through the agent with a small check. The check is often only cashed if the seller accepts, and once accepted it frequently converts into a caparra.
- Preliminary contract (compromesso or contratto preliminare), where the main caparra is paid.
- Deed (rogito) at the notary, where the balance is paid and ownership passes.
Our guide to purchase offers and preliminary agreements walks through the first two steps.
How much
The law sets no percentage; the amount is negotiated. Sellers like a bigger number because it makes withdrawal expensive. Buyers carry more risk with a bigger number if the title or permits turn out to be a problem.
The negotiation usually happens around a desk in the agent’s office, often in a cool stone-vaulted ground floor in the old town, with the offer form, a pen and a caffè each. It is worth pausing there before the number is written in, because once the preliminary is signed the deposit stops being a figure and becomes a promise.
What it costs to register
A preliminary contract must be registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days of signing; if a notary drafted it, the notary files it (Agenzia delle Entrate). For preliminaries signed from 1 January 2025 the cost is:
- a fixed registration tax of €200;
- stamp duty of €16 for every four pages or 100 lines (€155 if the contract is a public deed or a notarized private agreement);
- 0.5% of any caparra confirmatoria or acconto, or the lower tax due on the final deed if that is less.
The 0.5% is credited against the registration tax due on the final deed. Before 2025, advances paid 3% and deposits 0.5%; the new rule taxes both the same (Agenzia delle Entrate, contratto preliminare). A caparra penitenziale is still taxed at 3%. On a €200,000 house with a €30,000 caparra, the proportional part is €150. The agent or notary normally handles the filing.
Protecting your money
- Check before you pay. Have the title, mortgages and liens checked, and have a geometra compare the house with the cadastral plan and the permits. See our guides to cadastral and planning compliance and to English-speaking geometri.
- Consider a notarized preliminary. A preliminary signed as a public deed or notarized private agreement can be recorded in the property registers (trascrizione, article 2645-bis of the Civil Code), which protects your place in line if the seller sells to someone else or a creditor files against the property before your deed. It costs more, but it is the strongest protection for a large deposit.
- Use the notary’s dedicated account at the deed. Since 29 August 2017 (Law 124/2017), either party can ask the notary to hold the balance of the price in a dedicated, segregated account (conto dedicato) until the deed is recorded and no new liens have appeared (Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato). Say in the preliminary that you plan to use it.
- Pay traceably. Use a bank transfer or a non-transferable check, and keep the receipts. The amounts and payment method are written into the deed.
- Add conditions. If you need a mortgage, make the contract conditional on approval, with a deadline, and say the caparra is returned in full if the bank says no. Do the same for any permit problem the geometra has flagged.
Clauses we would read twice
- The words “a titolo di caparra confirmatoria” (as a confirmatory deposit), not “penitenziale” or simply “acconto.”
- A firm date for the deed, and what happens if it slips.
- Who pays the agent, and when the agent’s fee becomes due.
- The list of furniture or fittings included in the price.
- A declaration that the property is free of liens, and that the seller will deliver a compliant house.
Bottom line
A caparra confirmatoria is a fair deal for both sides if you have done the checks first. Pay it after the title and technical checks, label it correctly, register it, and tie it to clear conditions. For the full sequence, see our guide to buying a home in Puglia and our notes on choosing a notary.
General information, not legal advice. Checked October 2026.
