New postal savings certificate, lasts only 6 months: returns and conditions

Italian Post Office has recently placed a new one on the market postal savings certificate.

It’s about the Good for 6 months goodideal solution for those looking for a short term investmentsimple and with a practically zero level of risk.

This product is issued by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and guaranteed by the Italian State, a characteristic for which it continues to attract a wider audience of savers, especially in a period characterized by economic uncertainty.

The new voucher works differently than the others. Let’s see what its main features are and how much it is worth it.

How does the new voucher for a 6 month voucher work?

The voucher recently placed on the market by Italian Post Office of the series TF106M251216 available exclusively in dematerialized form you can sign:

• at post offices, bringing with you your identity document and tax code;
• in online mode if you have an ordinary or Smart postal savings account enabled for device services.

If you want to save time at the counter, you can book an appointment on the official Poste website or via the app.

Furthermore, only adults can purchase it for one minimum amount of 500 euros and multiples of 50 euros up to a maximum of 50,000 euros per single customer.

In the event that the total subscriptions exceed the maximum amount indicated, it will not be possible to purchase other similar vouchers even in the event of any partial, total or advance refunds.

As for the duration, it is 6 months from the date of issue/signing with mechanism automatic reinvestment. The latter is triggered at the expiry of this period and the invested amount is not deposited in the settlement account but is reinvested in a new voucher for a 6-month voucher at the economic conditions in force at that time.

This mechanism therefore makes this product ideal for those who want passive savings management. The reason is that in this way you don’t have to intervene every 6 months to renew the investment.

What is the interest rate?

Il interest rate gross annual income which indicates how much the investment actually yields good for good 6 months it’s from1,25%.

It is calculated with a formula that compares the redemption value or the amount you will receive at maturity and the nominal value which is the initially invested capital.

The standard calculation method for carrying out this operation is called 30/360 and is used very often in financial products. With this formula the overall amount is transformed into an annual percentage which can be compared very easily with other investments.

What are the costs of the voucher for a 6 month voucher?

The 6 month voucher has no subscription or refund costs. He then enjoys apreferential rate on interest of the 12,50% which is one of the main advantages for those who buy BFP.

For many other financial instruments such as deposit accounts the taxation is generally 26%. This difference is significant as a greater share of net return is received.

This tax treatment is foreseen because the vouchers are savings instruments guaranteed by the Italian State and therefore enjoy the same taxation as Government bonds.

How does automatic reinvestment work?

It’s the automatic reinvestment which makes the new postal voucher different from the others. In fact, at the end of the 6 months, the capital is automatically reused in a new voucher for a 6-month voucher at the economic conditions in force at that time.

The process can, however, repeat itself maximum 40 times and it cannot be deactivated. The saver, in any case, always has the possibility of requesting partial or total early repayment so as to interrupt the reinvestment cycle. However, the partial must be at least 50 euros while the residual capital cannot fall below 500 euros.

The amount is then returned net of tax charges and interest after 6 months.

Here is an example calculation

Assuming you want to invest 4000 euros in the voucher for 6 months, from the calculator made available by Poste Italiane, it can be seen that at the end of the 6 months the net redemption value at maturity will be 4021.80 euros. However, the stamp duty is excluded from the calculation and is calculated according to current legislation.

Why is it necessary to pay attention to the prescription?

After 10 years from expiry, i paper postal savings bonds fall into statute of limitations. When the latter is carried out, the right to collect both the invested capital and the accrued interest is lost. Both, until 13 April 2001, were prescribed in favor of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Since 14 April 2001, however, the amount has been paid to the Fund established at the MEF with the aim of compensating victims of financial fraud.

There is one way to prevent the title from becoming statute barred and that is to choose the dematerialized form. With the latter, however, it is important to have a settlement account which can be a savings account or a BancoPosta account. The reason is that upon expiry the accrued amount is automatically reimbursed on one of these instruments. However, the voucher must have the same name as the latter.

How much does the purchase of a voucher affect the ISEE?

Postal savings bonds together with government bonds and up to 50,000 euros per family unit are outside the ISEE.

This exclusion is provided for by current legislation and this makes this product together with the others indicated very attractive if you need to present the single substitutive declaration.

Taxation and stamp duty

Inheritance tax is not paid for postal vouchers. They are in fact assimilated to public debt securities and therefore are not counted for the purposes of the hereditary assets despite being part of the estate to be distributed among the heirs. However, the exemption declaration must be presented to the Revenue Agency.

Instead, thestamp duty which is of the 0.20% per annum on the redemption value if the total value of all vouchers exceeds 5,000 euros. If early repayment is requested, its application could result in a net amount lower than the invested capital. If this happens, the saver will still be refunded the amount of stamp duty that would have reduced the capital so as to guarantee the recovery of at least the subscribed amount.