How IVAFE applies to US brokerage, custodial (CIA) and investment accounts held by Italian residents: rate, tax base, account codes and Quadro RW reporting.
Published: 2026-05-09 · Last verified: 2026-05-09 · 9 min
CIA and IVAFE: the terminology In Italian Quadro RW practice, CIA stands for Conti di deposito e di investimento amministrato all'estero — foreign brokerage and custodial accounts that hold securities, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds and cash positions. The US equivalents are typical Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Vanguard or Merrill Edge accounts opened by an Italian resident. IVAFE — Imposta sul Valore delle Attività Finanziarie all'Estero — is the Italian wealth tax that hits these holdings every year. IVAFE rate on brokerage / CIA accounts For securities, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, derivatives and crypto held with a US custodian: - Standard rate: 0.20% (2 per mille) per year on the year-end market value, pro rata by months of holding. - Black-list rate: 0.40% — does not apply to the US. Note the structural difference with bank current accounts: bank accounts pay a fixed €34.20 per account (only if average balance €5,000); brokerage / CIA accounts pay the proportional 0.20% with no flat alternative. Tax base — what counts The IVAFE base for a US brokerage account is the year-end market value of: - Listed equities (US and foreign) - ETFs and ETNs - Mutual funds (note: most are PFICs for US purposes — separate issue) - Government and corporate bonds - Options and futures (mark to market) - Cash sweep balances inside the brokerage account - Crypto held with a US custodian (Coinbase, Kraken, etc.) Each position is valued in euro using the year-end ECB reference rate. The aggregate value is the IVAFE base. Quadro RW codes for US brokerage When reporting a US brokerage account in Quadro RW, the typical fields are: - Codice di individuazione del bene: generally 2 (conti correnti e depositi esteri) for the cash leg, 14 (altre attività finanziarie) for the securities leg — many practitioners report the whole CIA account under a single line with appropriate description - Codice Paese: 069 (Stati Uniti) - Codice tipo: 1 if held directly, 3 if held through a fiduciary - Quota di possesso: ownership percentage if joint The exact mapping depends on the Quadro RW form version and on the broker's account structure (cash account vs margin vs IRA). FBAR coordination A US brokerage account held by an Italian who later becomes a US tax resident triggers FBAR if the aggregate balance across foreign accounts (from the US perspective) exceeds $10,000 at any point. The mirror situation — an Italian resident with a US-located brokerage — does not trigger FBAR (the account is domestic from the US perspective), but it absolutely triggers Quadro RW + IVAFE on the Italian side. Common mistakes - Mixing FBAR and Quadro RW thresholds. FBAR is $10,000 aggregate; Quadro RW monitoring on financial assets kicks in at €5,000 average daily balance (lower threshold). - Forgetting the cash sweep. Cash idle inside a brokerage counts toward IVAFE just like the securities. - Skipping crypto custody. Crypto held with a US exchange that custodies the keys is reportable on Quadro RW and subject to IVAFE at 0.20%. [LAST UPDATED: 2026]
CIA stands for Conti di deposito e di investimento amministrato — foreign brokerage/custodial accounts holding securities, ETFs, funds and cash. US examples: Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Interactive Brokers.
0.20% per year on the year-end market value of the financial assets, pro rata by months of holding. The US is not on the Italian black list, so the doubled 0.40% rate does not apply.
No. The €34.20 flat IVAFE applies only to bank current accounts and postal deposits. Brokerage / CIA accounts always pay the proportional 0.20%.
Yes. Idle cash held within the brokerage cash sweep is part of the IVAFE base and must be reported in Quadro RW.
Yes, when the exchange holds the keys (custodial wallet). The position is reportable on Quadro RW and subject to IVAFE at 0.20%.
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