Tourist tax in Italy: what the desk asks, who pays

At check-in in Italy you pay the tourist tax per person, per night, on top of the room rate, at a figure set by the town: in 2026 from €1.00 in a one star hotel in Venice to €12.00 in a five star in Milan, with children exempt under 12 in Florence, under 14 in Naples, and no published age rule for Rome or Milan.

Three numbers decide the bill at the desk

The receptionist multiplies three things: the people in the room, the nights you're staying, and the rate for that property's category. Prices in euros throughout, and every rate below is per person per night.

The sum sits outside what your booking platform charged, which is why it turns up as a separate request at check-in, and why smaller properties ask for it in cash. Work it out before you land: rate, times people, times nights, for each address on the trip.

The third number has a ceiling. Each city stops counting after a fixed run of consecutive nights in the same property, and that ceiling matters far more for one kind of traveler than for another.

One base for a week, or three cities in nine nights

British visitors stay 4.95⁸ nights in Italy with 0.21⁸ secondary destinations, which means one base and a stay long enough to meet the Venice cap of 5 nights. Americans stay 9.04⁸ nights across 1.19⁸ secondary destinations, so three beds of three nights each, and no leg ever reaches a cap.

A week in the same Venice hotel pays the tax for 5 nights and sleeps the other two for free. The same week in Rome, Florence or Naples pays all seven, because their caps sit at 10, 7 and 14 nights.

How the count restarts when you move, and what that costs on a multi-city route, is on the page about the tourist tax cap, under planning.

Children: three cities, three answers

Florence exempts children under 12, and publishes the list: University of Florence students, day hospital patients, up to 2 companions per hospital inpatient, on duty police and civil protection staff, and hotel employees staying for work. That list belongs to Florence alone and doesn't transfer to other cities.

Naples charges everyone over 14 who isn't a Naples resident, so a child of 14 or under sleeps tax free there. Rome and Milan keep their age thresholds in council regulations this page hasn't read on a primary source, so no exemption is stated for them here: ask the property to show you the article it applies, and check the two councils' sites before you budget for a family.

The law sets a €5 ceiling, then lifts it

Article 4 of legislative decree 23 of March 14, 2011 lets provincial capitals, unions of municipalities and towns classified as tourist destinations charge a stay tax, graded in proportion to the price of the accommodation, up to €5 per night.

The ceiling has a door in it. Towns whose recorded visitor numbers exceed 20 times their resident population, measured on ISTAT data for the previous three years, may charge more, which is why the big city rates below are double the nominal cap.

Rome: €3.00 to €10.00, and the 7.50 trap

Rome's rates were approved on July 17, 2023 and have applied since October 1, 2023, per person per night, for a maximum of 10 consecutive nights in the same property.

On camping pitches the maximum drops to 5 nights.

Note the 4 star figure. The official tariff table says €7.50; a large number of English language guides copy €7.00, which is simply an old number repeated.

Florence and Venice: lower caps, tighter counting

Florence charges €3.50 a night in a 1 star up to €8.00 in a 5 star, with €6.00 for B&Bs, guest houses, holiday flats and short lets, under a December 10, 2024 resolution effective February 1, 2025, for a maximum of 7 consecutive nights.

Venice grades by zone, season, type and class. In the historic center in high season, February 1 to December 31, it runs from €1.00 a night in a 1 star to €5.00 in a 5 star, with a 5 night maximum. Lido, Murano and Burano pay 20% less, the mainland 30% less, and in January the base rates drop 30%.

Milan is now the most expensive of the five

Milan has charged from €3.00 a night for 1 star hotels, hostels and open air sites to €12.00 for 5 star hotels since April 1, 2026, with €7.00 for a 3 star, €10.00 for a 4 star and €9.50 for B&Bs, holiday flats, guest houses and short lets.

Between January 1 and March 31, 2026 a different and higher set of rates applied to some categories, tied to the increase allowed for the Milano-Cortina winter games. We have not verified that transitional regime on a primary source, and the maximum number of nights in Milan is not published on the table we read.

Naples raised its rates in May 2026

Naples has charged from €4.00 to €6.00 a night since May 1, 2026, under a resolution of March 12, 2026, for a maximum of 14 consecutive days.

Those rates replaced a cheaper set that ran from January 1, 2026, when a 5 star paid €5.00. If your booking was confirmed with an older amount, the amount at check-in is the one the council has published.

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