Rental income tax for non-residents: the complete guide

If you own property in Italy and rent it out, Italy taxes that income — no matter where you live, and no matter what you already pay at home. This guide covers the rules as they apply in 2026 to individual owners who are not tax-resident in Italy.

Yes, you must file in Italy

Under every double-tax treaty Italy has signed, income from immovable property is taxed first in the country where the property sits. Renting out an Italian apartment while living in Munich, Amsterdam or Boston therefore creates an Italian filing obligation: the Modello Redditi Persone Fisiche, the tax return for individuals, with the rental income declared in the appropriate section.

There is no minimum threshold worth relying on in practice: if the property is rented, file. Unfiled years do not disappear — they wait, and accrue penalties and interest until the tax office finds them, which it increasingly does through data from rental platforms and utility records.

What exactly is taxed

Two regimes exist, and you effectively choose one:

For most non-resident landlords the flat tax is cheaper and dramatically simpler — but not always. Owners with large deductible expenses, above all a renovation, can be better off under IRPEF. That comparison is worth doing properly before you elect (see our cedolare secca guide).

The deadlines that matter

• 30 June — balance of last year's tax and first advance instalment for the current year
• 30 November — second advance instalment
• 31 October — deadline to file the return for the previous year
• 16 June and 16 December — IMU property tax instalments (see the IMU guide)

All payments run through the F24 form, which can be paid from abroad. Miss a deadline and Italy's ravvedimento operoso lets you self-correct with reduced penalties — cheap if done quickly, expensive if you wait.

Paying twice? The treaty stops that

Your home country will usually also want to know about the income. Depending on the treaty, it will either exempt it (often with progression, as Germany and the Netherlands do for real estate) or tax it and credit the Italian tax (the UK and US approach). Either way you need proof of what Italy taxed: the filed return, the payment records and, where useful, a certificate of tax residence. We prepare that documentation as part of our service — your accountant at home will thank you.