The 2026 Budget Law (Art. 1, paragraph 17, Law No. 199/2025) has amended the rules governing short-term rentals by lowering the threshold above which a presumption of business activity applies to short-term letting.
Scope of application
Starting from the 2026 tax year, an absolute presumption of carrying out a business activity will arise when more than two apartments are allocated to short-term rentals during the year. In other words, from the third property rented out for tourist purposes, the opening of a VAT number becomes mandatory.
The rule therefore lowers the threshold from four to two apartments, significantly narrowing the scope for carrying out short-term rental activity on a non-professional basis.
Article 1, paragraph 595, of Law No. 178/2020 establishes an absolute presumption of business activity, which operates solely on the basis of the number of apartments allocated to short-term rentals during the tax year, regardless of the duration of the individual contracts.
Accordingly, even rentals lasting only a few days per year are sufficient for the property to count toward the applicable threshold.
The presumption applies only to short-term rental contracts (with a duration not exceeding 30 days) and does not apply to ordinary residential leases (4+4) or to regulated rent agreements (3+2).
Definition of “apartment”
For counting purposes, the rental of individual rooms within the same apartment, even if rented to different tenants under separate contracts, is considered as one single apartment. The presumption, however, refers to the individual taxpayer rather than to the property itself.
Apartments leased under ordinary rental agreements or granted under a loan-for-use arrangement must not be taken into account where they are subsequently used for short-term rentals by the sublessor or the borrower.
Obligation to open a VAT number for short-term rentals
The 2026 Budget Law clarifies that short-term rental activity acquires a professional character starting from the third property allocated to short-term rentals.
In such cases, the landlord is required to open a VAT number within 30 days from the commencement of the activity, with the consequent application of the tax and social security rules applicable to business or self-employed activities.
Tax regime for short-term rentals of up to two properties
From a tax perspective, the reform confirms the application of the flat tax regime (cedolare secca) at a rate of 21 percent for the first property allocated to short-term rentals.
For the second property, however, a higher tax burden is introduced, with the application of a 26 percent rate, resulting in an increase in taxation for taxpayers who manage multiple properties while remaining below the threshold for professional activity.
