Rents, the run of the dry coupon continues: record declared tax at 3.7 billion

The appeal of the flat tax on rents continues to grow. The flat tax is confirmed at the top of Italian taxpayers' preferences, even in the latest tax statistics, relating to the declarations submitted in 2024 (tax year 2023). In total, the tax declared amounted to over 3.7 billion euro, an absolute record with a growth of almost 9 points compared to the previous year. On the rise especially the light version, at 10%, of the substitute tax, dedicated to agreed rents.

Looking at the trend of declarations in recent years, that of the rush to use the cedolare secca is not a new phenomenon. Ever since its debut in 2011 (in 2017 it was then extended to short rentals, up to 30 days), the numbers of access to this possibility have been growing steadily. In 2021, to give an idea of the continuous increase, substitute taxation had affected some 2.9 million subjects for a taxable amount of EUR 18.2 billion and a declared tax of EUR 3.1 billion. A trend that has seen precisely the explosion of short-term rentals among the decisive components in recent years. Even if, on this point, it remains to be seen whether in the coming years the introduction of certain obligations, such as the Cin obligation (triggered with the 2025 declaration), will change the trend for this type of rental.

In both 2022 and 2023 there was an increase in all indicators, which led to this situation in the 2024 declarations: income subject to the withholding tax amounted to 13.7 billion euro at the 21 per cent rate and 7.4 billion at the 10 per cent rate. The total taxable amount was EUR 21.1 billion (+7.7 per cent compared to 2022) for a declared tax of over EUR 3.7 billion. The tax rate for the agreed tax rate increased by almost 9 points.

It must be remembered that the 'cedolare' replaces Irpef and its surcharges, registration tax and stamp duty, with considerable tax savings and a major simplification. The average rate paid by the 3.1 million taxpayers who chose this route was just 17.5 per cent, well below even the first Irpef rate of 23 per cent. In other words, the substitutive tax rate guarantees a clear tax advantage compared to ordinary taxation, regardless of the reference income bracket.

Moving on to the regional distribution, the 21% flat rate is used mainlyin Lombardy: here 22.8% of the total number of subjects have chosen it. On the other hand, the 10% flat rate tax option is mainly used in Lazio, where 17.7% of subjects have chosen it. According to the bulletin of the Finance Department, 'the comparison with the previous year shows a greater increase in the islands (+12%), central regions (+9.8%) and southern regions (+9.7%)'.