As a result of the recent tax legislation changes by the Berlusconi government there are now some real advantages in moving to Italy and becoming officially resident there. You will already know what a wonderful place it is to retire to but now it can also save you a lot of money as well.
As far as I am aware there is now NO inheritance tax (or capital transfer tax) on whatever you leave in your will no matter how much it is. Compare this with the U.K. rate of 40% of anything over £250,000 and you'll see that even with a modest amount of wealth by today's standards you can make significant savings. With an estate value of only £1million it would save £300,000 - the cost of a really nice house in Umbria! Rumours within Italy that Berlusconi did it only to avoid his own inheritance tax bill and save his heirs about £200 million may well have some truth but so long as we can share this good fortune...............
Not only is the inheritance tax now at zero percent but also the same applies to capital transfer tax. This means that once you have Italian residency you can give away any capital you wish to your offspring completely tax free and without any qualifying period such as the 7 year rule that applies in the U.K.
Residency in Italy is not that much of a hardship. You are allowed to return to the U.K for up to 91 days in any one tax year without falling foul of U.K. tax laws. Given our weather, etc. you may consider this to be more than sufficient!
For more detailed advice I recommend to talk to your financial advisor - although he may not want to advise you to cash in some savings and retire to Italy!