Educational information only, not tax advice. Rules and figures change — confirm your situation with a qualified Italy tax professional before filing.
Lake Garda, Italy · Italy · Short-term rental taxes
Short-Term Rental Taxes in Lake Garda, Italy
Short term rental taxes on Lake Garda: 21% or 26% cedolare secca, a tourist tax set by each lakeside comune (€2.80 a night in Sirmione, €2.50 in Bardolino), the CIN and a regional code for every unit.
The 30-Second Answer
- Short term rental taxes on Lake Garda follow the national cedolare secca: 21% on the one unit you nominate on your return, 26% on any other short-let unit, with no deductions. Platforms and agents that collect your rent withhold 21% on account.
- The lake spans three administrations — Lombardy (Sirmione, Desenzano, Limone), Veneto (Garda, Bardolino, Malcesine) and the Autonomous Province of Trento (Riva del Garda, Nago-Torbole). Each sets its own registration rules, and each comune sets its own imposta di soggiorno.
- Examples for 2026: Sirmione €2.80 per guest per night for a locazione turistica (max 7 nights, under-14s exempt); Bardolino €2.50 (max 20 nights, children up to 14 exempt). Operators file monthly with the comune.
- Every unit needs the national CIN from the Ministry of Tourism and the regional or provincial code — the CIN does not replace it. Missing CIN: €800–€8,000 fine. From 2026, letting more than two apartments short-term is presumed to be a business.
Deductions
What Lake Garda Hosts Can (and Can't) Deduct
The regime decides everything. Cedolare secca taxes the gross rent with no costs, ordinary IRPEF gives only a flat 5% reduction, and real expenses count only once you are a business.
A cleaning fee built into the price is part of the taxable rent. Under the regime forfetario a fixed profitability coefficient replaces actual costs; ordinary business accounting deducts documented costs.
Filing Calendar
Key Dates & Filing Calendar
The tourist tax runs monthly with each comune; income tax on 2026 short lets is settled on the return filed in 2027.
Collect the tourist tax at the rate of the comune where the flat sits, not the town your booking site names — a Desenzano address pays Desenzano's rate, not Sirmione's.
Comune di Sirmione — Regolamento imposta di soggiorno (art. 6–7); Comune di Bardolino — Imposta di soggiorno; Agenzia delle Entrate
Income Tax Regime
Cedolare Secca or Business Income?
A private owner letting one or two lakeside apartments normally chooses the flat cedolare secca. A third apartment, or hotel-style services, moves you into business taxation.
Cedolare Secca (Locazione Breve)
Flat 21% / 26% on gross rent
- Replaces IRPEF and the regional and municipal add-ons on the rent, but is charged on the whole amount received — no expenses, no 5% abatement.
- Pick one unit for the 21% rate on your return; every other short-let unit pays 26%.
- Airbnb, Booking.com or an agency that handles payment withholds 21%; you settle any extra 5 points on the 730 or Redditi PF.
- Only for individuals letting for 30 days or less per stay, and from 2026 for no more than two apartments.
Maximum two short-let apartments per tax year from 2026
Business Income (Partita IVA)
From the third apartment, or with services
- Letting more than two apartments short-term in 2026 is presumed to be an entrepreneurial activity — cedolare secca no longer applies.
- You open a Partita IVA; once you give platforms your VAT number they stop the 21% withholding.
- The regime forfetario (15% substitute tax on a coefficient-based profit) is available up to €85,000 of revenue.
- Breakfast, transfers, boat or bike hire and similar services can make even one unit a business.
Forfetario up to €85,000 revenue; ordinary business taxation above
Depreciation
Depreciation and Lake Garda Short Lets
A private owner taxed under cedolare secca or ordinary IRPEF claims no depreciation on the flat or its furnishings. Depreciation exists only inside a business.
| Asset | Typical write-off period | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment held privately | Not depreciable | Cedolare secca taxes gross rent; ordinary IRPEF allows only the 5% flat reduction. |
| Furniture, appliances, boats or bikes for guests (private) | Not depreciable | No income-tax deduction outside a business. |
| Business assets — ordinary accounting | Ministerial coefficients | Buildings and furnishings used in the business follow the official depreciation rates; agree the schedule with your commercialista. |
| Business assets — regime forfetario | None (coefficient) | Profit is revenue × the activity's coefficient; costs are not itemised. |
Home renovation bonuses follow their own eligibility rules — check them for a property used for short lets before you commit to works.
No depreciation is claimed privately, so nothing is recaptured on sale. A sale within five years of purchase can produce a taxable gain; business assets follow business rules.
Imposta di Soggiorno
Lake Garda Tourist Tax: Comune by Comune
There is no single Lake Garda occupancy tax. Each lakeside comune sets its own per-guest, per-night rate, night cap and filing rules — two verified 2026 examples below.
Sirmione (Lombardy) charges €2.80 per guest per night for locazioni turistiche and CAV in 2026, for a maximum of 7 consecutive nights, with children under 14 exempt. Bardolino (Veneto) charges €2.50 for locazioni turistiche and furnished tourist units in 2026, for up to 20 consecutive nights, with children up to 14 exempt. On the Trentino shore, Riva del Garda and Nago-Torbole follow the Autonomous Province of Trento's rules — check the current rate with the Province.
Sirmione max €19.60 per guest per stay; Bardolino max €50
Comune di Sirmione — Imposta di soggiorno, tariffe 2026; Comune di Bardolino — Imposta di soggiorno, tariffe anno 2026
| Booking type | Who collects & remits | What it means for your books |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb booking | Airbnb collects the tourist tax only in comuni registered on its tax portal — check the Taxes section of your listing | Where Airbnb does not collect, you charge the guest and include the stay in your monthly return |
| Booking.com, Vrbo or direct booking | You collect the lodging tax from the guest and file with the comune (Sirmione by the 10th, Bardolino by the 16th) | Show it apart from the vacation rental price — it is not rental income |
| Exempt guest (e.g. child under 14) | No tax, but the exemption is reported in the return | Keep ages and any exemption forms with the booking record |
Rates are set by each comune and can change every year — Desenzano, Garda, Lazise, Malcesine, Limone and the other lake towns have their own schedules. Sirmione's regulation makes the party that collects the rent, including a short-let intermediary, responsible for collecting the tax.
Platforms
Airbnb Tax on Lake Garda: Who Withholds What
Lake Garda hosts meet the Airbnb tax twice: the 21% income-tax withholding on payouts and the comune's tourist tax. Platforms handle part of each, never all.
| Platform | Reports your income | Collects the local lodging tax | Annual earnings summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | Withholds 21% on account from payouts and reports contract data, including the CIN, to the Agenzia delle Entrate | Only where the comune has joined Airbnb's tourist-tax portal — check your listing | Earnings report plus annual withholding certificate |
| Booking.com | Withholds 21% where it handles guest payment; reports contract data | Check your extranet — otherwise you collect and remit to the comune | Invoices and annual withholding certificate |
| Vrbo | Same intermediary rules if it collects the rent — confirm in your account | Not confirmed for Lake Garda comuni — assume you collect | Payout reports in the owner dashboard |
| Direct / local agency | An agency that collects rent withholds 21%; a direct booking has no withholding | You (or the agency) collect and file monthly | Your own ledger and receipts |
Listing on More Than One Platform?
Each platform withholds only on its own payouts, and the tourist tax is due whichever channel the guest used. Add up Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and direct stays for your return, and remember the two-apartment limit counts units, not listings.
DAC7 Reporting in Italy
Under the EU DAC7 rules, platforms collect hosts' tax details and report their earnings each year. Italian short-let rules add a second channel: intermediaries send the Agenzia delle Entrate your contract data, including the CIN, by 30 June of the following year. Assume every platform euro is visible to the tax office.
Agenzia delle Entrate — Le regole per gli intermediari; Airbnb Help Center article 2287; Ministero del Turismo — FAQ BDSR
Illustrative P&L: One Lake Garda Apartment
Example: one apartment on Lake Garda grossing €24,000 a year in short lets (tourist tax excluded), nominated for the 21% rate. Illustration only — not tax advice.
Record-Keeping
Stay Audit-Ready on Lake Garda
The Agenzia delle Entrate matches your return with platform data, and the comune checks your tourist-tax returns and annual account.
| Keep | How long | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly tourist-tax returns, receipts and exemption forms | 5+ years (recommended) | The comune can assess unpaid tax and sanction incomplete returns (Sirmione: €25–€500) |
| Annual conto della gestione (Modello 21) | 5+ years (recommended) | Shows the tax you collected as the comune's agent was paid over |
| Platform withholding certificates and payout reports | Until 31 Dec of the 5th year after filing | Proves the 21% withheld that you credit on your return |
| CIN, regional code and comune communications | While letting + 5 years (recommended) | Both codes must appear in every listing; the CIN alone does not satisfy the regional rule |
| Safety kit records (gas/CO detectors, extinguishers) | While letting | Required for every short-let unit; missing devices cost €600–€6,000 |
Sirmione refuses its regional code to units that miss its 2022 standards on parking, building safety and floor area per guest — and the Lombardy regional administrative court (TAR) upheld those refusals, as the comune announced in April 2026.
Estimator
Short-Term Rental Tax Estimator
Plug in your bookings and costs to see your likely taxable position.
Your Numbers
Total short-term-rental income, before costs.
Allowable running costs, mortgage interest, depreciation and platform fees.
Your top income-tax band, as a percentage.
Estimated tax owed
Income tax on your net rental profit at your marginal rate.
Illustrative estimate. A simplified model to orient you — it is not tax advice. Confirm your situation with a qualified local professional.
Sources & notes
Checked against comune, regional, Ministry of Tourism and Agenzia delle Entrate pages in September 2026. We could not verify the Trentino tourist-tax rate at an official source, so it is not quoted. Comune rates change yearly — re-check before the season.
- Comune di Sirmione — Imposta di soggiorno, tariffe 2026 (€2.80 locazione turistica, 7 nights, under-14 exempt) — https://www.comune.sirmione.bs.it/s3/6918/allegati/imposta-soggiorno-locandina-tariffe2026.pdf
- Comune di Sirmione — Regolamento imposta di soggiorno (monthly by the 10th, conto by 30 January, sanctions) — https://municipium-images-production.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3/6918/allegati/tributi/impostadisoggiorno/regolamento-imposta-soggiorno.pdf
- Comune di Bardolino — Imposta di soggiorno (20 nights, 16th of the month, annual returns) and tariffe anno 2026 — https://www.comune.bardolino.vr.it/it/page/imposta-di-soggiorno ; https://bardolino-api.municipiumapp.it/s3/20064/allegati/tariffe-anno-2026.pdf
- Regione del Veneto — Locazioni turistiche (ROSS 1000, identification code, LR 11/2013 art. 27 bis) — https://www.regione.veneto.it/web/turismo/locazioni-turistiche
- Comune di Sirmione — CIN page and regolamento comunale CAV / locazioni turistiche (CIR, parking, SUAP) — https://www.comune.sirmione.bs.it/it/services/cin-codice-identificativo-nazionale-per-le-strutture-ricettive
- Ministero del Turismo — FAQ Banca dati strutture ricettive (CIN, safety devices, sanctions) — https://www.ministeroturismo.gov.it/faq-banca-dati-strutture-ricettive-bdsr/
- Agenzia delle Entrate — Le locazioni brevi e la cedolare secca; Le regole per gli intermediari — https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/le-locazioni-brevi-e-la-cedolare-secca ; https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/le-regole-per-gli-intermediari
- Airbnb Help Center — Tourist tax collection in Italy — https://www.airbnb.it/help/article/2287
- Provincia autonoma di Trento — guest reporting for private tourist lodging — https://www.provincia.tn.it/Servizi/Comunicare-online-le-presenze-degli-ospiti-a-ISTAT-e-Pubblica-Sicurezza
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions — Lake Garda STR Taxes
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