How to start a short-term rental in Italy: every step, from regional registration to your first guest (2026)

What do you need to start a short-term rental in Italy?

The duties fall into two groups: those you do once, before publishing your listing, and those you repeat with every booking. The first group takes a few weeks of paperwork; the second takes consistency, and it’s where most mistakes happen. Here’s the full picture, then each step in turn.

Four institutions come up throughout: the Comune (municipality) and its SUAP, the one-stop desk for businesses; the Questura, the provincial police headquarters; the Region, which sets tourism rules; and the Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy’s tax agency. Unfamiliar terms are explained in our short-term rental glossary.

What do foreign owners need before they start?

Italian law doesn’t make residence in Italy a condition for letting your home short-term: the duties follow the property, not you. But if you live abroad, a few things take time, so start them first:

• A codice fiscale (Italian tax code). It links you to your property in the national database that issues the CIN, and you need it for your Italian tax return. If you live abroad, you can request it from the Italian consulate in your country of residence.
• Access to Italian online services. Many portals use SPID or CIE, Italy’s digital identity and electronic ID card. Without them, the CIN database has a separate registration for foreign users, which the Ministry verifies manually: allow some days.
• A PEC address, Italy’s certified email, used to request Alloggiati Web credentials. If you don’t have one, a commercialista (an Italian chartered accountant) or a local manager can send the request for you.
• A commercialista for taxes. Income from a home in Italy is taxable in Italy even if you live elsewhere; non-residents file the Modello Redditi PF, the individual income tax return.
• Someone local for keys, cleaning and guest identification: our checklist for managing a rental in Italy remotely covers how owners abroad organise it.

Short-term rental, tourist let or business: what are you starting?

Procedures and taxes depend on the answer, so settle it first:

• Locazione breve (short-term rental): a lease of a residential property located in Italy, lasting no more than 30 days, signed by private individuals outside a business, including with services such as linen and cleaning. It’s the regime of art. 4 of Decree-Law 50/2017.
• Run as a business: from 1 January 2026 the short-let regime applies only if you use at most two apartments for this activity in the tax year; beyond that, the activity is presumed to be a business (until 2025 the threshold was four). In that case you need a partita IVA (VAT number) and a SCIA.
• Non-hotel accommodation such as B&Bs, affittacamere (rooms to let) and case vacanze (holiday homes): these are governed by regional laws, with their own requirements and procedures. If that’s your case, read how to open a B&B in Italy and see Maurice for B&Bs and guesthouses.

Which registrations and requirements come before the listing?

The regional notice and regional code

Many Regions ask you to notify them when you start a tourist let, and assign a regional code. Some examples:

• in Lombardy the regional code is called the CIR, and you need it to obtain the CIN;
• in Piedmont the notice to the Comune goes through the Piemonte Dati Turismo platform (form “Allegato H”), and the CIR must be shown in every form of promotion, platforms included;
• in Veneto, before starting, the tourist landlord sends the property’s details, rental periods and number of rooms and beds through Ross1000.

The CIN

With the regional code, where required, you request the CIN on the Ministry of Tourism’s BDSR (Banca Dati delle Strutture Ricettive), logging in with SPID or CIE, or with foreign-user credentials. The CIN must be displayed outside the building and shown in every listing: renting without one costs €800–8,000, and not displaying it €500–5,000. It has been mandatory since 1 January 2025. Steps, special cases and fines are in our guide to Italy’s CIN code.

The SCIA, if you run it as a business

Anyone running short-term or tourist lets as a business must file a SCIA (Segnalazione Certificata di Inizio Attività, a certified start-of-activity notice) with the Comune’s SUAP. Without one, art. 13-ter of Decree-Law 145/2023 sets a fine of €2,000 to €10,000. If you’re close to the two-apartment threshold, clarify your position with a commercialista before publishing listings.

Safety devices

Every unit let short-term or for tourism must have working combustible-gas detectors and carbon-monoxide detectors, and compliant portable fire extinguishers in accessible, visible places: one every 200 m² of floor space, with at least one per floor. Anyone operating as a business must also meet the national and regional safety requirements for building systems. Missing devices cost €600 to €6,000 for each violation: ask a qualified technician about number and position, and keep the invoices and maintenance records.

What do you report when guests arrive?

Once you’re live, every booking brings at least three guest-related duties. Prepare them before the first arrival, because credentials take time.

Alloggiati Web: registering guests with the police

Article 109 of the TULPS, Italy’s public-security law, extended to short-term rentals by Decree-Law 113/2018, requires you to send the Questura the details of every guest through the Alloggiati Web portal: within 24 hours of arrival, or within 6 hours for stays of up to 24 hours. Credentials are requested from the Questura of your province: some indicate up to 30 days to issue them, so start early. Failing to report is an offence punished under art. 17 of the TULPS. All the steps are in how Alloggiati Web guest registration works.

ISTAT data: statistics for the Region

In many regions tourist lets must also report guest arrivals, nights and origin to the regional statistics portal, often Ross1000. Deadlines are regional: in Lombardy by the 5th of the following month, in Piedmont by the 10th, and months without guests must be declared too. Read our guide to Ross1000 and ISTAT reporting.

Guest identification

In judgment 9101/2025 the Consiglio di Stato (Italy’s highest administrative court) reinstated the Interior Ministry circular requiring hosts to verify de visu, in person, that the guest matches the document: sending documents online is not enough on its own. Keyboxes and door codes can still be used, but identification has to be organised: read is self check-in legal in Italy and check with your Questura.

How does the tourist tax work?

The imposta di soggiorno (tourist tax) is set by each Comune under art. 4 of Legislative Decree 23/2011: every Comune decides in its own by-law whether to apply it, with which rates and exemptions. For a host this means that:

• you are responsible for paying the tax, with the right to recover it from guests (art. 180 of Decree-Law 34/2020);
• you must collect it and pay it to the Comune in the ways and on the deadlines of the municipal by-law;
• you must file the annual declaration online by 30 June of the following year;
• if a platform collects it on your behalf, check in the municipal by-law how your duties change.

The general picture is in our guide to who pays Italy’s tourist tax; for the two cities with the most short-term rentals there are dedicated guides to the Milan tourist tax and the Rome tourist tax.

With tourist tax collection you set your Comune’s rule in Maurice once (amount per guest per night, age exemptions, maximum taxable nights, exceptions for channels that already collect it), and Maurice calculates the tax and collects it by card during check-in, or you mark it as paid in cash. So everything is ready for paying the Comune and filing the declaration.

How are short-term rentals taxed?

• Cedolare secca (flat tax): 21% on the rent of one property, chosen in your tax return, and 26% on the other, since 2024. Alternatively you can stay with ordinary income tax (IRPEF).
• Two apartments at most from 2026: beyond that threshold the activity is presumed to be a business and the short-let regime no longer applies.
• Withholding by intermediaries: if a platform or agency collects rent on your behalf, it withholds 21% as an advance (Agenzia delle Entrate circular 10/E of 2024).
• Registering the contract: leases of up to 30 days don’t normally need registering, except if used as evidence (in caso d’uso). Ask your commercialista to confirm for your case.

Rates, examples and how non-residents declare the income are in our guide to the cedolare secca on short-term rentals.

What should you check on listings, contracts and platforms?

• The CIN in every listing. Since 20 May 2026, under Regulation (EU) 2024/1028, platforms must also verify registration numbers, run random checks and send the authorities nights booked and number of guests. Details in our guide to the EU short-term rental regulation.
• Clear house rules. Times, maximum guests, pets, noise: write them down and have guests accept them before arrival. In Maurice’s online check-in, accepting the house rules is one of the steps.
• Stays beyond 30 days. They’re no longer short-term rentals: for students and workers you need a different contract, such as the transitional lease. Maurice handles these too, with its solution for mid-term rentals.
• Personal data. You collect ID documents and guest details: tell guests how you use them, and store them securely, only for as long as needed.
• Guest messages. Prepare the confirmation, arrival instructions and departure messages: you’ll find ready-made texts in our guest message templates.

Which tasks can Maurice automate?

The one-off duties are done once, with SPID, CIE or foreign-user credentials. The ones that come back with every booking are the work Maurice exists for:

Bookings arrive in Maurice automatically, with no manual entry: from your PMS or channel manager (for example Smoobu, Beds24, Lodgify, Hostaway or Guesty) and from platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com. The full list is on the integrations page. Every guest gets the online check-in link with the booking messages, and our team helps you set everything up.

Maurice manages more than 500 properties today and has handled more than 20,000 bookings. Until 31 December 2026 it costs €9.99 per property per month (list price €15.99, VAT excluded), and the team activates a free trial with guided onboarding: details on the pricing page.