The Italian Supreme Court,  by sentence April 12th, 2019, no. 10287, has admitted the claim lodged by Armella & Associati Law Firm, as lawyer of the Municipality of Genoa, ruling on a controversial issue, which is characterize by a divergent implementation on the Italian territory.

The Court ruled that the uncovered areas of a harbor terminal, destined to entrepreneurial and income-generating activities, constitute real estate units subject to Local Property Tax “ICI” .

The Supreme Court clarified that also the quays of the maritime domain, affected by concessions by the Harbor Authority, cannot be considered as public service goods and, in light of this, must be framed within the cadastral category “E”, due of their capacity to generate income and because they are essential to the dealer’s business.

The controversial nature of the matter has led the legislator to intervene with the Budget law for the year 2018, which provides, starting from January 1st, 2020, that the docks and uncovered areas of the harbors with national and international economic significance, used for operations and port services, are properties that must be registered in the cadastral category “E/1”, even when they are entrusted to private companies  (Law no. 205/2017, p. 587 etc.).

The aforementioned law provides that the same discipline also operates for the quays and uncovered areas of the harbors used for passenger service and for cruise passengers.