Last updated: October 2026
Rules last verified 15 October 2026
Since 1 January 2025, every tourist accommodation in Italy, from hotels to a single rented room, must hold a CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale) and display it on the property and on every online listing. No code: fines of €800 to €8,000. No display: €500 to €5,000 (art. 13-ter, DL 145/2023). Here is what the rules require, and what they cost.
The CIN was introduced by Article 13 of Decree Law 145/2023 (the "Decreto Anticipi"), Italy's answer to a short-term rental boom that brought widespread illegal lets, tax underreporting and inconsistent safety compliance. Before the CIN, regions ran their own identification systems. The CIN adds a national layer on top: it is stored in the national BDSR (Banca Dati Strutture Ricettive) run by the Ministry of Tourism, while the regional, provincial and municipal codes and their display obligations remain fully valid.
Everyone hosting transient guests. That includes hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, and every short-term rental (locazione breve), whether you are a private landlord renting a single room or a company managing multiple holiday homes. It does not matter whether you operate commercially or not: if guests stay, the law applies.
The application goes through the Ministry of Tourism's portal, into the BDSR. You provide the land registry details of the property and confirm it meets the safety requirements. Operators can apply with the owner's authorisation. Hosts authenticate with SPID or CIE; foreign owners register manually with two-factor authentication.
Operating or advertising a rental without a CIN carries administrative fines of €800 to €8,000. Failing to display the code on the premises carries €500 to €5,000. This is not paper law: Trieste's local police ran about 280 inspections of tourist accommodation in the first nine months of 2026, finding 20 residential units operating without the required authorisation and without a CIN, plus 13 authorised facilities that had never obtained one. One exception: if you reported your property as missing from the BDSR and the region sends no verification result within 30 days, the BDSR issues an unverified CIN that you may use for adverts and external display until verification completes, and no fines apply during that window (Ministry of Tourism, BDSR FAQ 2.3). Registered properties in the city rose from 77% with a CIN in March 2025 to over 88% by September 2026, and inspections continue.
To qualify for a CIN, the property must meet specific safety standards: functioning gas detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and accessible fire extinguishers. These apply even to non-commercial rentals. Budget for the hardware and the installation before you apply.
The same Decree Law 145/2023 set a 26% tax rate for hosts managing more than one property. If you run a small portfolio, the tax line in your accounts changed too, not just the paperwork.
Registration admin, safety hardware, the 26% rate on a second property: these apply whether the booking came through Booking.com, Airbnb or your own website.
The platform commission is different. It is a variable cost, around 15% on Booking.com, and it is the one you can actually cut. A direct booking website does not remove the compliance burden, but it stops the platforms taking their cut on top of it. Our Booking.com commission guide shows what that cut looks like in pounds per year.
Take an Italian apartment grossing €30,000 a year through the platforms at an assumed 15% commission.
Platform commission: €4,500 a year, every year, on top of CIN paperwork, safety hardware and fines risk.
That €4,500 is the part of the bill you can do something about.
The CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale) is Italy's national identification code for tourist accommodation. Introduced by Article 13 of Decree Law 145/2023, it sits alongside the regional and provincial codes, which remain fully valid: hosts who hold a regional or provincial code must obtain the CIN as well and display both. It is stored in the national BDSR database run by the Ministry of Tourism.
Everyone hosting transient guests: hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, and every short-term rental, whether you are a private landlord renting a single room or a company managing multiple holiday homes. Commercial and non-commercial lets alike.
Operating without a CIN carries fines of €800 to €8,000. Failing to display the code on the property carries €500 to €5,000. Enforcement is active, with hundreds of inspections finding unregistered properties.
Outside the physical entrance of the building and on every online advert for the property, including listings on Airbnb, Booking.com and your own website.
Functioning gas detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and accessible fire extinguishers. These are a condition of getting the CIN and apply even to non-commercial rentals.
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Last checked: 15 October 2026. General guidance only, not legal or tax advice. Confirm CIN, safety and tax requirements with the Ministry of Tourism portal and your tax adviser. Sources: Normattiva: art. 13-ter, DL 145/2023 (CIN fines); Ministry of Tourism: BDSR portal (apply for CIN); ItalianTaxes.com: CIN guide; Taxing.it: national identification codes; Ruralis: how to obtain the CIN; InTrieste: 2026 enforcement checks.