Short-term rentals at 26% profitability drops from 38% to 33%

There is still a debate in parliament on the hypothesis of increasing the rate of the short term rental tax on all properties to 26%. Lega and Forza Italia propose to maintain the status quo, i.e. to pay 26% only from the second property. In the meantime, the first calculations are beginning to be made on how much the aggravation would affect a property's yield. The Associazione Italiana Gestori Affitti Brevi (Aigab) has tried to do the maths.

It must be said that in the main Italian cities, the use of short rentals does not concern all properties. As Marco Celani, president of Aigab, points out - "For example, in Milan, short rentals are concentrated in the first two circles of the ramparts and are very much linked to the business segment. In Rome, the market is more touristy, rates are higher and the seasonality is less marked than in Milan, with a higher average occupancy rate and demand concentrated in municipalities 1 and 2 (Monti, Trastevere). In Florence, the market is concentrated in the historic centre and little beyond, populated almost exclusively by long-haul tourists, particularly Americans. It is a very seasonal market, starting in March and ending in September with high rates. Finally, in Naples, the market has developed in recent years and is populated mainly by American and European tourists.This has brought great impetus to the renovation of houses that were abandoned or from which the inhabitants have moved to newly built homes, putting them to income'.

Aigab has assumed the case of a one-bedroom apartment in Rome or Milan in semi-central neighbourhoods whose annual chargeable rent from a short rental with an average occupancy rate of 65% (about 237 nights out of 365) is €28,470, where the costs to be borne by the owner have been estimated at €2.826 euros (utilities, cleaning, condominium expenses, rubbish tax - NO Imu, wifi, insurance) expressed as an annual average in euros; extraordinary costs for periodic repairs, painting, etc., (annual average in euros), Ota commissions (to the portal with which the property is rented) amounting to 6,252 euros and for cleaning amounting to 4,592 for a total of costs.

At that point, to the costs must be added the dry coupon which, if it is at 21%, is equal to 6943 euros, which brings the total expenses to 20,613 euros and a net income of 12,449 euros. On the other hand, in the case of a 26% rate, the coupon comes to 8596 euro with total expenses of 22,266 euro and therefore a revenue that drops to 10776 euro. While the State's contribution between taxes and fees would rise from 12,685 euros to 14,338 euros.

"In the hypothesis of a tax rate increase," Celani concludes, "property income is therefore reduced from 38 per cent to 33 per cent, a drop that in some cases may be higher and that, as mentioned in several places, can only lead many to find other solutions, fuelling black renting.