Known as Tassa di Soggiorno in Italian, the Rome Tourist Tax is a charge paid upon check-out from any form of accommodation within city limits. All cities in Italy have some form of tourist tax that varies in price, so expect to see it on your bill while traveling around the boot.
Here we’ll go over specifically the Rome Tourist Tax: what it is, how much it is, and what it’s used for.
What is the Rome Tourist Tax?
The Rome Tourist Tax is a special tax charged per person per night* by any lodging facility or campsite. The tax is added to your final bill at check-out and payable in cash or card. It’s very common for structures to request this tax to be paid in cash for 2 reasons: 1) initially it was only payable in cash, card was not accepted. So many structures haven’t updated their internal policies. 2) to avoid high credit card commissions, structures will encourage cash only.
*For the first 10 nights only
Exemptions
There are a few exemptions to the Rome Tourist Tax, including:
- children under 10 years old
- Rome residents
- guests who accompany other guests for health reasons (1 per disabled guest)
- State police force and other (Italian) armed forces
- 1 driver/leader for every group of 23 guests
How Much is Rome Tourist Tax?
The Rome Tourist Tax rate varies based on the typo of accommodation. The rates as of April 2018 (source) are as follows:
All rates are per person per night (e.g. use the following formula to calculate your tourist tax:
rate x # of guests (over 10 y.o.) x # of nights (up to 10)
Hotel
1 star: €3
2 star: €3
3 star: €4
4 star: €6
5 star: €7
Agriturismi and Residences (not vacation rentals)
€4
Bed and Breakfast
€3.50
Vacation Rentals (AirBnB, VRBO, Homeaway, etc.)
€3.50
Campsites
€2**
*It’s important that you receive a receipt for the Tourist Tax. If you are not provided a receipt upon payment of the tourist tax then there is no proof of payment and the property may forgo registration (a sneaky business practice that is all too common in Rome. ROMAC prides itself on respecting all such accommodation regulations and taxes.)
**Tourist tax is calculated for a maximum of 5 nights for Campsites
What is the Rome Tourist Tax used for?
AP52 Altemps apartment by ROMAC, a stone’s throw from Piazza Navona
The Rome Tourist Tax is put toward maintenance and promotion of Rome in the tourism capacity. The city of Rome raised €123 million in 2016 from the tourist tax which goes to promoting Rome’s destination and supporting tourist services and assistance, info points, and materials.
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I owe €21 for three days of stay in a apartment near Termini Station , for two people.
How can I pay this amount?
I am in the United States right now .
I stayed on that apartment
From the 7/ 15 until 7/18
Hello Raul,
have you stayed in one of our apartments?
I suggest you to contact the landlord to arrange the payment of the city tax.
Hope this helps,
Rubina
Hi I’m happy to pay city tax but why it has to be cash and how do I know its reaches the government.
Hello Hemin,
most of the hotel and vacation rental requires the payment of the city tax in cash because they have to forward this money to the government. If they accepted the payment by credit card, they would have to pay the credit card commission and the taxes on this amount, so they would lose money. In addition they have to register all the guests and to communicate their presence to the central police department, if they don’t do that, they can receive a criminal complaint.
I feel it’s time for the authorities in Rome to change this to a digital solution so as to reduce the risk for corruption and increase transparency like they did in Greece. Also many people are not used to using cash now because tourists have to pay fees when taking out cash at foreign cash machines. I don’t mind paying a bit extra as long as I know it can’t contribute to corruption.
Hi We have stayed at one Air BnB apartment and now are moving to another (all in Rome). We paid the full 10 days tax at our first apartment.
Question: Do we have to pay the tax again at our new apartment.
There has been no break in our stay in Rome over the two apartments (ie we have never left Rome).
Thanks Richard
Yes, you have to pay again. The law says you don’t have to pay if you spand more than 10 nights in the same accommodation: http://www.060608.it/it/accoglienza/servizi/servizi-turistici/contributo-di-soggiorno-nella-citta-di-roma-capitale-1.html
Hope this helps!
I was in Rome for 7 days and i paid 4 euros for each day to the reception but i didn’t take a receipt…is it normal?And the other thing that i want to ask if is normal that i paid this taxes because when i paid the hotel to booking.com they wrote that i paid everything with taxes…
Hello!
You should have received the receipt for your payment. Regarding Booking.com, the city tax is not included in the total amount, so it was OK to pay extra. The VAT taxes only are included in their rates. Hope this helps!
Hi Rubina, I find very strange your last observation. In my booking receipt says literally: “È incluso 3,50 € di Tassa di soggiorno per notte a persona”
Isn’t this the tourist tax that we are talking about? Because I received and email from my b&b telling me that rates do not include the Rome City Tax
In this case, you should check the details of the payment. It can be sometimes included.
Hi Rubina , I was in Rome at the end of December last year and paid the city tourist tax twice. I had to pay it upfront on an Air BNB we were supposed to stay in where we had to pay the tax to Vikey ( it was set up by the hosts as they live in England )before the door to the accommodation would open . It didn’t open and we had to find alternative accommodation. This was on 26th December and I have been back and forth with the person who the money went to ( via my Visa card) and I think I’m getting the run around. She has agreed to the refund but has asked for my bank details twice which I have supplied both times. Is there an official department I could complain to ?
Hello Tatyana,
unfortunately not.
You could dispute the payment to the credit card circuit.
I don’t think charging a tourist tax is a good idea as it discourages people from visiting again. We are in Rome now and will have to pay €60 for the pleasure of spending our money in an Italian city. I think the Italians need to re-think this strategy to encourage visitors instead of penalising them like this!
Hello Russell,
thanks for sharing your thoughts. Actually there are a lot of things that we could improve. Hopefully somebody will listen to us regarding this matter!