Tourist tax in Italy: the national framework
Italy's tourist tax (imposta di soggiorno) is municipal: each municipality that may levy it sets its own rate by resolution, up to €5.00 per person per night under D.Lgs 23/2011, or more in Rome and the busiest provincial capitals. The accommodation operator, or for a short let whoever collects the rent or takes part in the payment, pays it to the municipality and recovers it from the guest.
Last verified September 16, 2026
Key facts
| Fact | Value | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Municipalities that may levy the tax | Provincial capitals, unions of municipalities, and municipalities on their region's list of tourist resorts or cities of art, by council resolutionSourceLast verified September 16, 2026D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1) | D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1) |
| Highest rate a municipality may set | €5.00 per person per nightGraduated in proportion to the price of the stay.SourceLast verified September 16, 2026D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1) | D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1) |
| Cap for a provincial capital with over 20 tourist presences per resident | €10.00 per person per nightMeasured on ISTAT's average presences over the three years before the year of the resolution; for 2023 to 2025 the law uses the 2017 to 2019 average instead.SourceLast verified September 16, 2026D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1-bis) | D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1-bis) |
| Cap for Rome's contributo di soggiorno | €10.00 per person per nightGraduated by accommodation category. Venice may apply the same maximum (L. 145/2018, art. 1(1129)).SourceLast verified September 16, 2026DL 78/2010, art. 14(16)(e) | DL 78/2010, art. 14(16)(e) |
| Extra a municipality may add in 2026 | €2.00 per person per nightThe increase introduced for the 2025 Jubilee, allowed again for 2026, on top of the municipality's own rate. Rome may raise its contributo di soggiorno by the same amount; Venice may raise its imposta di soggiorno under the general rule and, by the same amount, its contributo di accesso (the fee for entering the historic city and the other minor islands of the lagoon). 30% of what the increase raises in 2026 goes to national disability and child-assistance funds.SourceLast verified October 30, 2026L. 199/2025, art. 1(683), extending L. 213/2023, art. 1(492) | L. 199/2025, art. 1(683), extending L. 213/2023, art. 1(492) |
| Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic rule | In 2026, municipalities in Lombardy and Veneto within 30 km by road of a competition venue may introduce the tax or raise it, up to €5 per night; half of the extra revenue goes to the StateSourceLast verified October 30, 2026DL 156/2025, art. 4(6) to (7-bis) | DL 156/2025, art. 4(6) to (7-bis) |
| Who must pay the tax to the municipality | The accommodation operator, who recovers it from the guest; for a short let, whoever collects the rent or takes part in the payment, such as an agency or platformFrom 1 January 2027 the short-let rule moves, with the same wording, to the new income-tax code (D.Lgs 117/2026, art. 208(4)).SourceLast verified September 16, 2026D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1-ter); DL 50/2017, art. 4(5-ter) | D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1-ter); DL 50/2017, art. 4(5-ter) |
| Penalty for paying the tax late or not at all (violations from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2026) | 25%Of the unpaid amount, for violations committed from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2026; halved when paid within 90 days of the due date, and within 15 days cut to one fifteenth of that half for each day late.SourceLast verified October 31, 2026D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1-ter), in the text that still applies to violations until 31 December 2026 (D.Lgs 147/2026, art. 12(9)), before art. 12(7) of that decree amended it, referring to D.Lgs 471/1997, art. 13(1) as amended by D.Lgs 87/2024 | D.Lgs 23/2011, art. 4(1-ter), in the text that still applies to violations until 31 December 2026 (D.Lgs 147/2026, art. 12(9)), before art. 12(7) of that decree amended it, referring to D.Lgs 471/1997, art. 13(1) as amended by D.Lgs 87/2024 |
| Penalty for paying the tax late or not at all (violations from 1 January 2027) | 25%Of the unpaid amount, for violations committed from 1 January 2027; halved when paid within 90 days of the due date, and within 15 days cut to one fifteenth of that half for each day late.SourceLast verified October 30, 2026D.Lgs 147/2026, art. 12(2), applying D.Lgs 173/2024, art. 38(1) and (3) | D.Lgs 147/2026, art. 12(2), applying D.Lgs 173/2024, art. 38(1) and (3) |
Who sets it
The tax may be introduced by provincial capitals, unions of municipalities, and municipalities on their region's list of tourist resorts or cities of art, by council resolution. Each municipality's regulation sets the rates, the exemptions and any limit on the number of nights taxed, so a host follows the rules of the municipality the property is in.
How much it can be
The ordinary cap is €5.00 per person per night. A provincial capital whose tourist presences exceed twenty times its residents may go up to €10.00 per person per night, and Rome's contributo di soggiorno may reach €10.00 per person per night.
In 2026 any municipality that levies the tax may add up to €2.00 per person per night on top, an increase first allowed for the 2025 Jubilee. Separately, the Milano Cortina Olympic rule applies: in 2026, municipalities in Lombardy and Veneto within 30 km by road of a competition venue may introduce the tax or raise it, up to €5 per night; half of the extra revenue goes to the State.
Who pays it over
The guest owes the tax, but the one who answers to the municipality is the accommodation operator, who recovers it from the guest; for a short let, whoever collects the rent or takes part in the payment, such as an agency or platform.
For a short let this follows the money, by law: a platform or agency that collects the rent, or takes part in the payment, is responsible for the tax on those stays. When the host takes the payment directly, as on a direct booking, the host collects the tax, pays it over and declares it.
Paying late
Tax not paid over by the municipality's deadline is penalised at 25% of the unpaid amount for violations committed from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2026; for those committed from 1 January 2027 it is 25%, under the new consolidated tax-penalty code. The annual return has its own penalties, covered in the guide to the return.