Italy Rental Tax Calculator (Cedolare Secca vs. IRPEF)

Italian landlords renting out residential property face a genuine choice on how their rental income gets taxed: cedolare secca, a flat substitute tax that replaces IRPEF, registration tax, and stamp duty on that income entirely, or ordinary taxation, where 95% of gross rent is added to your other IRPEF-taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, on top of a separate registration tax on the lease contract.

Cedolare secca comes in two rates: 21% for standard "canone libero" (free-market) leases, and a reduced 10% for "canone concordato" (agreed-rent) contracts negotiated under a territorial landlord-tenant accord -- available in comuni ad alta tensione abitativa and comuni capoluogo. This calculator computes both paths side by side in euros, using your actual rent and income, so you can see exactly which one costs less for your situation.

Cedolare secca (flat substitute tax):

$$\text{Cedolare Secca Tax} = \text{Annual Gross Rent} \times \text{Rate (21\% or 10\%)}$$

Ordinary IRPEF taxation (Art. 37 TUIR): 95% of gross rent (a flat 5% forfeit deduction for expenses) is added to your other taxable income, and taxed at Italy's ordinary progressive rates:

$$\text{Taxable Rental Income} = \text{Annual Gross Rent} \times 0.95$$

$$\text{Marginal IRPEF From Rent} = \text{IRPEF}(\text{Other Income} + \text{Taxable Rental Income}) - \text{IRPEF}(\text{Other Income})$$

Ordinary taxation also requires paying imposta di registro (registration tax) on the lease -- 2% of the annual canone, subject to a statutory minimum:

$$\text{Registration Tax} = \max(\text{€67 minimum},\ \text{Annual Gross Rent} \times 2\%)$$

$$\text{Ordinary Total Annual Cost} = \text{Marginal IRPEF From Rent} + \text{Registration Tax}$$

Cedolare secca wins whenever its flat tax is lower than this ordinary total.

Using the calculator's default inputs -- €12,000 annual rent, canone libero, €30,000 of other taxable income:

1. Cedolare secca: €12,000 × 21% = €2,520.00.
2. Ordinary -- taxable rental income: €12,000 × 95% = €11,400.
3. Ordinary -- IRPEF with rent: on €41,400 total taxable income (€30,000 + €11,400) = €6,440 (23% bracket) + €4,422 (33% bracket) = €10,862.
4. Ordinary -- IRPEF without rent: on €30,000 alone = €6,440 + €660 = €7,100.
5. Marginal IRPEF from the rent alone: €10,862 − €7,100 = €3,762.00.
6. Registration tax: max(€67, €12,000 × 2%) = €240.00.
7. Ordinary total cost: €3,762.00 + €240.00 = €4,002.00.
8. Cedolare secca (€2,520.00) beats ordinary taxation (€4,002.00) by €1,482.00.

Now compare a smaller, agreed-rent (canone concordato) case: €6,000 annual rent at the 10% cedolare secca rate against €15,000 of other income (still inside the 23% bracket). Cedolare secca = €600.00. Ordinary: taxable rental €5,700, IRPEF on €20,700 total = €4,761.00, IRPEF on €15,000 alone = €3,450.00, marginal IRPEF = €1,311.00, registration tax = max(€67, €120) = €120.00, ordinary total = €1,431.00 -- cedolare secca still wins, by €831.00.

• Imposta di bollo (stamp duty). Ordinary taxation also requires a separate stamp duty (commonly cited around €16 per four pages/100 lines of the contract) that cedolare secca eliminates entirely -- a minor, largely fixed, one-time cost this calculator does not add to the euro comparison.
• The comune-eligibility requirement for canone concordato. The 10% rate is only available for genuinely agreed-rent contracts in comuni ad alta tensione abitativa or comuni capoluogo -- this calculator assumes you've correctly determined your eligibility for the rate you select.
• Loss of expense deductions. Ordinary taxation's 5% forfeit deduction is a fixed simplification either way -- but cedolare secca electors also permanently give up the ability to deduct any actual higher expenses (repairs, condo fees passed through, etc.) against that rental income for as long as the option is active.
• Impact on other benefits. Cedolare secca income is excluded from "reddito complessivo" for some purposes but still counts for ISEE and certain other means-tested calculations -- the interaction with other benefits/deductions tied to total income is not modeled here.
• ISTAT rent-adjustment waiver. Electing cedolare secca requires the landlord to waive the right to request annual ISTAT inflation adjustments to the rent for the duration of the option -- a real economic trade-off not captured in this year-by-year euro comparison.
• Short-term rentals ("affitti brevi"). This calculator covers ordinary residential leases, not short-term/vacation rentals under 30 days, which are governed by a separate regime (21% for one unit, 26% for a second, and additional rules) that the Legge di Bilancio 2026 specifically revised.

• Assuming cedolare secca is always better. In this simplified model it very often is, because Italy's lowest ordinary IRPEF bracket (23%) already exceeds even the higher 21% cedolare secca rate once the 5% expense forfeit is applied -- but real-world advantages/disadvantages (deduction loss, ISTAT waiver, ISEE effects) can shift the true comparison for your specific circumstances.
• Using the wrong cedolare secca rate. Canone concordato's 10% rate applies only to genuinely agreed-rent contracts under a territorial accord in an eligible comune -- using it for an ordinary free-market lease is not permitted and would understate the tax due.
• Forgetting the 5% forfeit deduction under ordinary taxation. Only 95% of gross rent is taxable under the ordinary regime -- taxing the full 100% overstates the ordinary-regime cost.
• Ignoring the registration tax's €67 floor. For very small rentals (a garage, a single room), the 2%-of-rent calculation can fall below €67 -- the statutory minimum still applies, and this calculator enforces it.
• Comparing cedolare secca against the wrong marginal rate. Ordinary taxation stacks rental income ON TOP of your other income -- its cost depends on your marginal bracket, not a flat "average" rate on the rent alone.

• D.Lgs. 23/2011, art. 3: cedolare secca framework, 21% standard rate and 10% reduced rate for canone concordato contracts, confirmed unchanged for 2026 via multiple concordant sources (idealista.it, fiscoetasse.com, ipsoa.it, fiscomania.com, cedolaresecca.net).
• Art. 37, TUIR (Testo Unico delle Imposte sui Redditi): 5% forfeit expense deduction for ordinarily-taxed rental income.
• Caveat: the 2% registration-tax rate and €67 statutory minimum are long-standing, widely and consistently cited figures that were not re-verified via a fresh live search this session (search budget was exhausted after researching the other five calculators' topics) -- flagged per this build's verification standard. The imposta di bollo (stamp duty) figure is mentioned qualitatively only and is not independently re-verified or included in the euro comparison.