Tourist tax in Italian hotels: how much guests pay, who remits it and how to manage it (2026)

What is the tourist tax, and who pays it in a hotel?

The tourist tax, formally imposta di soggiorno, is a municipal tax under article 4 of Legislative Decree 23/2011; Rome charges an equivalent contributo di soggiorno under its own law (art. 14 of Decree-Law 78/2010). Guests pay it per person per night, often up to a maximum number of nights, and each Comune (municipality) sets the rates, the exemptions (usually by age) and the deadlines in its regolamento, the municipal by-law.

Since 2020 (art. 180 of Decree-Law 34/2020) the law makes the operator of the accommodation responsible for paying the tax, with the right to recover it from the guest, and for filing the annual return. In practice the hotel collects the tax, reports it and pays it to the Comune: if it doesn’t collect it from a guest, it still owes it.

How much hotels charge in Italy’s main cities (2026)

Each city guide lists every category, the exemptions and the local reporting portal. Work out what a stay costs with our tourist tax calculator; for the national rules that apply everywhere, see our guide to Italy’s tourist tax.

How much a Comune can charge: the legal limits

• Up to €5 per person per night is the general ceiling (art. 4, para. 1, Legislative Decree 23/2011).
• Up to €10 in Rome and in provincial capitals where tourist presences are at least 20 times the resident population (art. 4, para. 1-bis, as amended by Law 197/2022).
• Up to €2 more in 2026: the 2026 budget law (Law 199/2025, para. 683) lets provincial capitals, unions of comuni and the tourist and art towns covered by art. 4, and Rome, apply again the increase introduced for the 2025 Jubilee (Law 213/2023, para. 492). In 2026, 70% of the extra revenue stays with the Comune and 30% goes to national funds for pupils with disabilities and for minors.
• Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics: comuni in Lombardy and Veneto within 30 km of the venues may add up to €5 more per night in 2026 (Decree-Law 156/2025, art. 4, para. 6); half of that extra revenue goes to the State.

That’s why several cities changed their rates during 2026. Milan used both increases and charges €12 in 5-star hotels from 1 April; Naples raised every category by €1 from 1 May. A new rate takes effect from the first day of the second month after the resolution is published on the Ministry of Economy and Finance portal, and Milan’s increases are written for 2026 only, so check the 2027 tables before you load next year’s rates.

A hotel’s duties, step by step

1. 01

   Collect

   Charge the tax to each guest, applying the Comune’s exemptions and night cap, and give a receipt.

2. 02

   Report

   Send the Comune the summary of guests and nights on the local schedule: quarterly in Rome, Milan and Venice, monthly in Florence.

3. 03

   Pay

   Pay what you collected, usually through pagoPA (Italy’s public payment system) or an F24 form, by the local deadline.

4. 04

   File the annual return

   By 30 June of the following year, online, on the national form approved by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on 29 April 2022.

City rules that catch hotels out

• Milan has no night cap for hotels. The 14-night limit applies to short lets, holiday apartments, residence and non-profit case per ferie; hotels, aparthotels and B&Bs charge the tax for the whole stay.
• Milan’s congress rules. Organisers of congresses, conventions or group trips with at least 500 participants overall, and a minimum of 50 presenze (guest-nights) per hotel, can pay the tax in advance on the hotels’ behalf, and the tax can be cut by up to 50% for major congresses and trade fairs if hotels lower their prices by at least 20%.
• Venice’s seasons and zones. Hotel rates drop 20% on the Lido and other islands (10% for 5-star hotels) and 30% on the mainland, January is 30% cheaper, and guests aged 10 to 16 pay half.
• Rome’s card-fee contribution. Rome’s regolamento (art. 13-bis) provides a flat contribution towards the bank fees hotels pay to collect the tax electronically, requested each year through GECOS.
• Guests who refuse to pay. Rome and Milan both ask you to take the guest’s details and a written statement and pass them to the Comune; the tax is still due from you.
• One filing per property. Florence wants separate payments, monthly reports and annual returns for each property you run.

The most common mistakes in hotels

• Working out exemptions by hand. Ages, companions of patients, coach drivers and night caps change from city to city, and a repeated error adds up on every payment.
• Collecting only at check-out. A guest in a hurry for a train leaves without paying, but the hotel is still responsible for the tax.
• Cash that’s hard to reconcile. At the end of each period, collections, reported nights and payments have to match.
• Out-of-date rates. After the 2026 changes, a rate card a few months old can already be wrong.
• Forgetting the annual return due on 30 June, which comes on top of the periodic reports.

How Maurice handles the tourist tax for hotels

Maurice is an AI agent that works as a digital receptionist for small hotels and B&Bs, from booking confirmation to check-out. For the tourist tax:

• you set your Comune’s rule once: amount per guest per night, age exemption, maximum taxable nights and any channel exceptions;
• the guest pays by card during [online check-in](/en/check-in-online/), before arrival, paid straight to the hotel; guests who pay cash are marked as paid at the desk;
• the figures are ready for the periodic reports, the payments and the annual return;
• in the same flow Maurice collects ID documents, sends guest details to Alloggiati Web and the ISTAT data, and answers guests 24/7 in their language.

Maurice connects to your PMS or channel manager through its API; if yours isn’t among the ready integrations, the team sets it up within 24 hours (see integrations). Pricing is €9.99 per room per month, VAT excluded, as a launch offer until 31 December 2026. See Maurice for hotels and, for B&Bs, Maurice for B&Bs and guesthouses.