BY GABRIELE DALLE LUCHE, PAOLO GARFAGNINI
In the world of contemporary art, more traveling takes place than with trolley bags. But for the tax authorities, the question isn’t “where do I exhibit?” but rather “where do I truly live?” Until 2023, it was enough to line up three clues: registry, domicile (as the center of business/interests) and civil residence. Starting in 2024, the rules change: physical presence (even in small daily doses) counts and domicile becomes the place of personal and family relationships. In other words: traces of everyday life weigh more than exhibition flyers. As for income, the script is well-known: exhibitions are taxed where they take place (as per major conventions), royalties often in the country of residence (always conventions) and the rest depends on contracts and logistical connections. Enter the protagonist of 2025: Cassation ruling no. 11531/2025 on the sculptor with an intermittent studio in Tuscany (more precisely in the municipality of Pietrasanta, province of Lucca). The Italian Revenue Agency tried to pin him down with a fixed base in Italy (the professional version of a permanent establishment) waving laboratory space, 148 works, tools and bank accounts. The Supreme Court responded: “No, thanks”. Because a fixed base is not a poetic pied-à-terre: it requires stable availability, continuous use and a functional connection to the activity. If the artist comes in summer, produces in bursts, and most of the evidence is out of sync with the tax year being examined, it is not a fixed base. Even the presumption on bank deposits only holds if the overall picture sings in harmony; here, it did not. While in 2020, the Court penalized foreign residence “for show” (the singer-songwriter with documents “slipping” into Italy more than the stylist), in 2025 it reminded us that not every studio can be turned into a tax trap.
And what if you move to a country with favorable tax laws? The presumption of Italian residence still exists (Cass. 1292/2025), but it can be overcome with substantial evidence: family, children’s school, utilities, healthcare, tickets, routine. Not with an AIRE (Register of Italians Residing Abroad) hanging on the wall like a Maurizio Cattelan neon.
Quick tips for artists (and galleries): - clear contracts on the location and duration of performances, no dedicated rooms, permanent badges or fixed contact details: they smell of a fixed base; - keep documents organized by tax year: time, in Cassation, is a site-specific installation; - track your days and life: 2024 has given a voice to physical presence and relationships. Moral (ironic but legally sober): you can be anywhere with your art, but tax-wise you live where you actually reside, not where you are photographed at the vernissage. And a studio full of works does not make a fixed base any more than a catalog makes a verdict.
