Short-term rentals in Italy: rules and tax

What counts as a short let

The Agenzia delle Entrate defines the contract by four features: it concerns a residential unit in Italy; it lasts no more than 30 days; it is made by private individuals not acting in a business; and the unit falls in cadastral categories A/1 to A/11 (excluding A/10, offices) with its appurtenances such as parking space or cellar. The tenant must also not be acting in a commercial capacity: a lease taken by a company for staff accommodation is outside the regime. Services such as linen, cleaning, telephone or wi-fi do not take the contract out of the regime. With several contracts in a year between the same people, the 30 days are counted per contract. A lease of 30 days or less need not be registered.

Subletting and onward lets by a free-use borrower (comodatario) are treated the same way.

Tax

Ordinary taxation or flat tax. The owner may include the rent in ordinary taxation or opt for the cedolare secca, see the flat tax guide. Under the option, the rate is 26%, reduced to 21% for one unit per tax year, which the owner designates in the tax return (from 1 January 2024, under the 2024 budget law). The rate applies to the whole amount in the contract, without the 5% flat reduction that ordinary taxation gives, and the substitute tax replaces IRPEF and its surcharges.

The two-flat limit. From the 2026 tax year the regime applies only if no more than two flats are used for short lets in the year (previously four). Beyond that, the activity “by whoever carried out” is presumed to be a business, which moves it into a different tax and licensing category, not covered here.

Ancillary services. Amounts for services are part of the taxable amount when the lease sets them as a lump sum. They are excluded only when the tenant bears them directly or the owner passes them on at actual cost and consumption.

Calculation. On a stay billed at €1,000 in total, the 21% rate gives €210 and the 26% rate €260. Both are formulas applied to the contract amount, not estimates of a market price.

Withholding by platforms and agents

When an intermediary (an agent or a platform, resident in Italy or not) takes part in the payment or collects the rent, it must withhold 21% of the gross rent as an advance (acconto), pay it over, and certify it to the owner. Since 2024 the withholding stays at 21% and is always an advance, whatever tax regime the owner chose; the owner works out the tax due (ordinary or substitute) in the return and pays any balance after deducting what was withheld. The rate applies to the full amount payable to the landlord, including the commission he owes the intermediary if it is part of the price, but not to a deposit or a penalty. A cheque made out to the owner and a card payment through a payment-service provider are outside the withholding.

The CIN, safety kit and fines

Article 13-ter of Decree-Law 145/2023 creates the codice identificativo nazionale (CIN), assigned by the Ministry of Tourism after an online application with a declaration of the unit’s cadastral data. Anyone who offers a residential unit for tourist purposes, or as a short let under art. 4 of Decree-Law 50/2017, must:

• display the CIN outside the building where the flat is located, respecting planning and landscape constraints;
• state it in every advert, wherever published; agents and portals must show it too;
• observe the public-safety notification duties of art. 109 of the consolidated police law.

All units must have working gas and carbon-monoxide detectors and portable fire extinguishers (one per 200 square metres of floor, or part of it, with at least one per floor). Units run as a business must also meet the safety rules for installations.

Where a business is involved, the operator must file a SCIA (certified notice of start of activity) with the municipal one-stop shop (SUAP).

The fines in paragraph 9 are:

The municipality, through its local police, checks and fines (unless regional law punishes the same act), and the Agenzia delle Entrate and the Guardia di Finanza run risk analyses aimed first at landlords without a CIN. The article applies from the sixtieth day after the Gazzetta Ufficiale notice that the national database was running. This guide has not confirmed the date from the ministry’s own page, so check the ministry’s CIN portal for the current position and for how to apply.

What is not covered here

Regional tourism laws, municipal limits on short lets, tourist tax and building-rule restrictions (a condominium’s own rules, for instance) vary locally and were not part of the sources read. Ask the municipality. Lets of 31 days or more are ordinary leases; see the guides on 4+4 and 3+2 leases and transitional leases. Law 431/1998 itself does not apply to homes let exclusively for tourist purposes.

Which professional to consult

An accountant or tax adviser sets the right regime and files the return; the municipality’s one-stop shop explains the local licensing. A real estate agent or property manager that handles bookings is an intermediary subject to the withholding duties above.