Those who had planned to replace the windows, install a heat pump or improve the thermal insulation of their home hoping for a more generous incentive will have to review their accounts. The return of the Ecobonus to 65%, hypothesized in the weeks preceding the presentation of the 2027 budget law, does not appear in the text of the maneuver approved by the Council of Ministers, which instead chooses to maintain the percentages already applied in 2026 for another year, avoiding the cut that would have been triggered automatically from next January.
A decision that affects millions of owners, families and condominiums struggling with renovations and interventions to reduce energy consumption, especially at a time when the cost of building works continues to represent an important investment and the possibility of recovering part of the expense through tax deductions can have a concrete impact on the decision to start or postpone a construction site.
The good news is that the benefits will not undergo the reduction initially expected for 2027at least according to the bill currently under consideration by Parliament. The less favorable one is that, for the moment, not even the 65% increase which would have made it possible to recover a greater share of the expenses incurred to improve the energy efficiency of buildings will arrive.
Ecobonus 2027, why the return to 65% is skipped
The hypothesis of bringing the deduction for some energy efficiency measures back to 65% emerged during the preparation of the measure, with the aim of encouraging investments capable of reducing home consumption and accelerating the redevelopment of real estate assets which, in many cases, still present insufficient energy performance.
Among the interventions potentially affected were the replacement of windows and fixtures, thermal insulation of walls, heat pumps, hybrid systems, solar thermal and technologies for the intelligent management of domestic energy. The increase could have mainly concerned main homes, granting a higher tax discount to those who invest to improve the performance of the house in which they live.
The proposal, however, did not find space in the budget bill approved by the Government on 28 October. The text instead contains an extension of the existing deductions, confirming for 2027 the system already planned for 2026.
This means that the 65% Ecobonus is not currently planned for next yeareven if the parliamentary debate could still change the regulatory framework. Until the final approval of the measure, the percentages contained in the bill must therefore be considered a forecast and not a provision already in force.
Ecobonus 2027, what are the new rates for first and second homes
The fundamental distinction remains that between the main residence and other properties, because it is precisely this difference that determines the percentage of expenditure that the taxpayer will be able to recover through the tax return.
According to the text of the 2027 budget, the deduction will remain at 50% for interventions on the main residenceprovided that the expenses are borne by the owner or the holder of a real right of enjoyment over the property. For second homes and other situations that do not meet the requirements of the increase, the ordinary rate will be 36%.
These are the same percentages applied in 2026, while the legislation currently in force, without a new extension, would have provided for a reduction to 36% for the main residence and 30% for other properties from 1 January 2027.
The maneuver therefore intervenes to avoid this decrease, maintaining a more favorable tax treatment than that which would have been triggered automatically. However, at least in the initial version of the provision, the possibility of recovering 65% of the costs for energy saving interventions remains excluded.
An aspect not to be underestimated concerns the definition of main residence, which does not necessarily coincide with that of first home used for other tax breaks. To obtain the increased percentage it is necessary to respect the conditions established by the law, including ownership of the property or a real right of enjoyment, while the simple fact of incurring an expense in a home in which one lives does not automatically guarantee access to the 50%.
How much you really save: examples on fixtures and redevelopment work
To understand the difference between the rates, simply consider an energy efficiency intervention with a total cost of 20 thousand euros, assuming that the entire expense meets the requirements to benefit from the deduction.
With the 50% rate, foreseen for the main residence under the conditions established by law, the taxpayer could recover 10 thousand euros through ten annual installments of one thousand euros. If the 65% Ecobonus had been introduced, the theoretical benefit would have risen to 13 thousand euros, with a difference of 3 thousand euros compared to the discount confirmed by the maneuver.
For an intervention of the same amount on a property that benefits from the ordinary deduction of 36%, the tax recovery would instead be 7,200 euros, divided into ten annual installments of 720 euros.
The distance becomes even more evident for larger jobs. On an eligible expense of 30 thousand euros, for example, 50% would allow you to deduct 15 thousand euros, while a hypothetical rate of 65% would have allowed you to reach 19,500 euros, with an additional benefit of 4,500 euros.
These are naturally simulations, because the actual savings depend on the type of intervention, the applicable limits, the tax situation of the taxpayer and the possibility of using the deduction in full. The discount does not correspond to an immediate refundbut to a reduction in taxes due in subsequent years, within the limits permitted by law.
Which jobs are included in the Ecobonus 2027
The relief continues to concern interventions intended to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, provided that the technical and administrative requirements established for the different categories of work are respected.
The works that can benefit from the Ecobonus include the replacement of windows including frames, the installation of solar shading, insulation interventions on the building envelope, the overall energy requalification of the property and the replacement of air conditioning systems with solutions permitted by law, such as high efficiency heat pumps.
Also included, in the foreseen cases, are solar collectors for the production of hot water and building automation systems that allow you to control and optimize the operation of the systems.
Not all technologies, however, can be deducted through the same incentive. The installation of a domestic photovoltaic system for the production of electricity, for example, generally follows the rules of the renovation bonus and not that of the traditional Ecobonus.
It also remains confirmed the exclusion of expenses for the replacement of heating systems with single boilers powered by fossil fuelsincluding gas boilers that do not fall within the subsidized configurations.
Before starting the work it is therefore essential to verify not only the applicable percentage, but also the actual admissibility of the intervention, the required performance requirements and any deduction limits envisaged for the specific technology.
Renovation bonus 2027, what changes for condominiums and second homes
The extension provided for by the maneuver does not exclusively concern the Ecobonus, but also affects the renovation bonus and the Sismabonus, which would maintain the rates of 50% for the main residence and 36% in other cases.
For ordinary building recovery interventions, the subsidized expenditure ceiling would remain set at 96 thousand euros per property unit, while for energy requalification interventions subject to the Ecobonus regulation, the specific ceilings foreseen for the different types of work continue to apply.
The situation requires particular attention in condominiums, where the interventions may concern common parts of the building and involve owners with different situations. In fact, for the purposes of applying the increased rate, the requirements relating to the main residence and ownership of the property must be verified with reference to the individual taxpayer, even when the expense concerns condominium works.
For those who own a second home, however, the confirmation of 36% still represents an advantage compared to the reduction to 30% which would have come into force in 2027 without the extension, while maintaining a significant distance compared to the incentive reserved for main homes.
How to get deductions and why the payment date matters
Another decisive element for those planning a renovation concerns the moment in which the expenses are incurred. For private taxpayers, in fact, the applicable rate is generally determined by the year in which the payment is made, according to the cash principle, and not simply by the date of start or completion of the works.
Those who have already planned interventions between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027 will therefore have to carefully evaluate the payment calendar and verify which regulations will actually be applicable, taking into account the provisions that will be definitively approved.
To obtain the benefit it will also be necessary to comply with the required obligations, keep invoices and technical documentation, use the payment methods envisaged by the legislation and, for interventions subject to the obligation, transmit the data to ENEA through the dedicated channels.
It should also be remembered that the deductions are generally divided into ten annual installments and that, for taxpayers with total incomes exceeding 75 thousand euros, further limits may apply to the use of deductible expenses, according to the rules introduced by tax legislation.
Ecobonus 2027, what could still change with the Budget law
The building incentives game is not definitively closed. The budget bill will have to be examined by Parliament and during the process amendments may be presented aimed at modifying or integrating the provisions currently envisaged, including the possible introduction of new concessions for energy efficiency interventions.
At the moment, however, the picture is clear: the Government has chosen to extend the existing discounts rather than increase the Ecobonus to 65%guaranteeing greater continuity of benefits but giving up, at least in the first version of the measure, a more substantial incentive for those who invest in reducing energy consumption.
For families and owners considering major jobs, the difference is not marginal. The possibility of recovering a greater portion of the investment can in fact change the overall cost of a redevelopment and impact the convenience of replacing systems, improving insulation or intervening on the energy performance of the home.
The confirmation of the deductions therefore represents a guarantee with respect to the cuts already planned, but leaves open the question of how to support the energy transition of Italian buildings in a more incisive way. A definitive answer will only come with the approval of the 2027 budget law, when the rules on which taxpayers and businesses will actually be able to plan their investments will be established.
