Renting a second home to tourists in Italy has become easier to do and harder to do by the book. In recent years the CIN, new safety requirements and stricter checks on listings have arrived. Here is what you need, step by step, for a home on Lake Garda.

1. The CIN, Italy’s national ID code

The CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale) identifies every property rented out for tourist purposes. You apply online through the Ministry of Tourism’s BDSR database (Banca Dati delle Strutture Ricettive), logging in with SPID or CIE, the Italian digital identity. Homes that already had a regional code (Veneto and Lombardy have had one for years) usually get their CIN starting from it.

Once you have it, the CIN must be:

  • Shown in every listing, on Airbnb, Booking and any other channel.
  • Displayed outside the building, where it can be seen.

Fines are steep: renting without a CIN can cost €800 to €8,000, and failing to display it or to show it in listings €500 to €5,000. Platforms can also hide listings without a code.

2. Safety requirements

To obtain and keep the CIN, the home must have:

  • Working flammable gas and carbon monoxide detectors.
  • Compliant portable fire extinguishers, easy to reach and visible, with periodic checks.

It’s a small expense, but it has to be done before the listing goes live: missing devices are fined separately.

3. SUAP and SCIA: when you need them

If you rent as a private individual (a few properties, no hotel-style services), you usually don’t need a SCIA: the CIN, any notices to the municipality or the regional portal, and the steps below are enough.

If the activity is a business, for example with several properties or hotel-style services, you need a SCIA (a certified notice of start of activity) filed with the municipality’s SUAP, its one-stop shop for businesses. If you have several homes to rent out, check with the municipality which case applies to you before publishing your listings.

4. What to do for every stay

  • Police registration: every guest’s details must be sent to the Questura through the Alloggiati Web portal within 24 hours of arrival (immediately for one-day stays).
  • ISTAT data: arrivals and overnight stays must be reported regularly through the regional portal.
  • Tourist tax: each municipality sets its own amounts and exemptions. It must be collected from guests (unless the platform already does it) and paid to the municipality with the related returns.
  • Guest identification: the authorities expect hosts to check their guests’ identity; key boxes with no identification at all have been challenged.

Who takes care of it?

You can handle everything yourself, but it takes time and precision: a mistake with the police registration or the tourist tax can be costly. With Herocasa we handle these steps for you, from the CIN to the notices for each stay, and you get a summary every month.

Rules on short-term and tourist rentals change often and vary from region to region. This guide is for information only: for your specific situation, check with the municipality or your advisor.