Renting in Italy: 4+4, cedolare secca and the contract that has to be registered

Yes, as a Dutch citizen you rent in Italy without a permit or restriction — but an Italian rental contract only truly exists once it is registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate, within thirty days of signing. That costs 2% registration tax on the annual rent (at least € 67 in the first year), or nothing if the landlord opts for the cedolare secca. The deposit is capped by law at three months' rent. The trap is not the price but the paper: without a registered contract you have no residenza, and without residenza no health card, no ID card and no Italian plates.

Which contract types exist?

The 1998 rental law knows three flavours, and the name tells you the term.

Contract	Term	What it means
Canone libero (4+4)	four years, then four years' renewal	free rent; after the first four years the landlord may only terminate on statutory grounds
Canone concordato (3+2)	at least three years, extended by two years by law	rent according to the local tables agreed by landlord and tenant organisations
Transitorio	shorter, for a temporary need	the proper trial period for anyone who wants to look around first

At the second expiry of a 4+4, whoever does not want to renew has to say so at least six months in advance by registered letter; without that letter the contract silently continues on the same terms. You as tenant may withdraw at any time for serious reasons, with six months' notice. An Italian rental contract is therefore not a month-to-month arrangement: don't count on leaving after six months without cost.

How much deposit, and which extra costs?

The deposito cauzionale may by law not exceed three months' rent; a landlord asking for four or five months is asking for something the law does not allow. What the law does not regulate are the spese condominiali, the service charges of the building: ask before you sign what comes on top each month and what it covers.

What does registration cost, and who pays?

Item	Amount	When
Imposta di registro	2% of the annual rent, at least € 67 in the first year	at registration, and thereafter every year within thirty days of the previous annual term — or in one go for the whole term
Imposta di bollo	€ 16 per four written pages of each copy to be registered	at registration
Canone concordato in a city with housing shortage	the base is 70% of the annual rent	at registration
Under the cedolare secca	no registration tax and no bollo	—

Tenant and landlord are jointly and severally liable for the whole amount: the Agenzia can knock on either door. So agree in the contract who pays what, and ask for a copy of the receipt after registration. Paying year by year keeps the cost low; paying the whole term upfront earns a small discount.

What is the cedolare secca, and why do you want it?

The cedolare secca is the landlord's choice: instead of ordinary income tax he pays a flat 21% on the rent, or 10% for a canone concordato in one of the cities with housing shortage — Bari, Bologna, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Turin and Venice, their neighbouring municipalities and the other provincial capitals. For you that choice has two consequences, both pleasant: there is no registration tax and no bollo, and the landlord waives every rent increase for the whole term, including the ISTAT indexation that would otherwise be in the contract. So ask for it. A landlord who does not opt in at registration can still do so in a later contract year, but the tax already paid is not refunded.

Why does registration matter so much?

Two reasons. The first is fiscal: any agreement to pay more rent than the registered contract states is void, and the tenant can reclaim the excess up to six months after handing back the keys. Someone offering you an "official" low rent plus a second amount in cash is offering a contract that is free for you to break — and he knows it.

The second reason is administrative and hits you hardest. The residenza declaration at the town hall requires a valid title to the home, and that is the registered contract. Everything that follows — the tessera sanitaria, the CIE, the Italian plates for your car — hangs on that residenza.

Sign nothing without a registration date. Ask the landlord when he registers and have the proof (the receipt of the RLI form) sent to you. New contracts must also contain a clause in which you declare having received the energy certificate (the APE); if it is missing, the contract was drawn up carelessly, and that is a sign to ask further.

Where does this sit in your journey?

Finding a home and registering the contract is in Italy not a loose step but the hinge of the whole chain: first the codice fiscale, then a registered contract, then the residenza. Vertrekklaar's step-by-step plan fixes that order for you, with the thirty- and 45-day deadlines alongside — see /italie.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Italy or go straight to step 4.2 in the open plan.