Cedolare secca 2026 in Sicily: 21% or 26%, two apartments at most

The cedolare secca is Italy's flat tax on rental income. For rentals of up to 30 days it applies in 2026 to two apartments per tax year at most; until 2025 the limit was four (Art. 207 para. 4 TUIR; Art. 1 para. 17 L. 199/2025) ¹⁴. The rate is 26% of the gross rent. On one apartment that you designate in your tax return, it drops to 21% ¹⁴. Neither the law nor the Agenzia delle Entrate guide knows a 30% tier, and the 5% deduction does not apply. The same applies to a vacation apartment in Sicily and to any other home in Italy.

21% or 26%: which apartment counts as the first

The law has no “first” apartment in the sense of an order. Art. 207 para. 2 TUIR allows the 21% rate for one unit that the taxpayer designates “in sede di dichiarazione” ⁴. According to the Agenzia delle Entrate guide, this applies per tax year, and the choice is made in the return for that year ¹. What counts is therefore what you state in your tax return, not the order in which you started renting out your apartments in Sicily. Short-term rentals of the chosen apartment are taxed at 21%, all others at 26%.

A worked example with plain numbers, not a tax calculation: a landlord has two vacation apartments in Sicily. Apartment A brings in EUR 12,000 of gross rent a year, apartment B EUR 8,000.

The EUR 200 difference is 5% of EUR 4,000, the rent gap between the two apartments. If both apartments bring in EUR 10,000, the tax is EUR 2,100 plus EUR 2,600, or EUR 4,700, whichever you choose.

Two apartments at most: what happens beyond that

Under Art. 207 para. 4 TUIR, the regime is recognized from tax year 2026 only if no more than two apartments per tax year are used for short-term rentals. In all other cases the activity, “da chiunque esercitata,” is presumed to be entrepreneurial within the meaning of Art. 2082 of the Civil Code, including for contracts concluded through intermediaries or portals ⁴. If you rent out three or more apartments in Sicily for short stays, you cannot use the cedolare secca as before under this wording. The Agenzia delle Entrate guide does not spell out how such cases are handled in detail. A commercialista can clarify the consequences for taxes and registration.

Until 2025 the limit was four apartments: whoever rented out more than four for short stays was treated as a business, and the income belonged in the third booklet of the REDDITI PF form (Art. 1 para. 595 L. 178/2020) ⁷. The filing instructions for tax year 2026 are not yet available.

Sicily adds its own threshold in tourism law. Art. 5(h) L.R. 12/2026 replaced “non più di quattro unità immobiliari” with “non più di due unità immobiliari” in Art. 35 para. 1 L.R. 6/2025: a vacation rental counts as non-entrepreneurial only if the same operator runs two units at most ⁹¹⁰. In addition, Art. 35 para. 5 L.R. 6/2025 requires a notice of the start of the activity to the municipal SUAP ⁹. The two limits come from different laws, one from national tax law, the other from regional law, and must be checked separately. Details are in CIR and CIN in Sicily: the order, Turist@t and the fines for your vacation home and Short-term rentals in Sicily: what changed in 2025 and 2026, in date order.

Who can use the cedolare secca

According to the Agenzia delle Entrate guide and Art. 207 TUIR, several conditions must be met together ¹⁴⁷:

• The landlord is an individual who rents outside a business activity.
• The property is a residential unit in Italy (cadastral categories A/1 to A/11, excluding A/10), including a vacation apartment in Sicily, with its appurtenances.
• Each rental contract runs for no more than 30 days. If the same parties conclude several contracts in a year that add up to more than 30 days, the rules on registering the contract apply ⁷.
• Linen, cleaning, Wi-Fi and utilities may be part of the contract. Breakfast, meals, car rental, tour guides or interpreters are not: whoever offers them cannot apply the short-term regime ⁷.
• The limit of two apartments per tax year is respected.

How to choose the cedolare secca: tax return and withholding

You exercise the option in the tax return for the year in which the rent accrued or was received ¹. Short-term contracts do not have to be registered unless they are drawn up as a public deed or a notarized private agreement. If you register a contract voluntarily, you make the choice at registration ¹. On the return (Modello REDDITI PF), you enter the building in Quadro RB, and the tax appears in Quadro LC ⁷. Art. 207 para. 2 TUIR applies Arts. 203 to 206 TUIR for this; Art. 3 para. 4 D.Lgs. 23/2011 sets the due date at the deadline for income tax and applies the income tax rules to assessment, interest and penalties ⁴⁵.

A 21% withholding on the rent is only an advance on your tax, whichever regime you choose. You work out the tax due and pay the balance after deducting what was withheld ¹. Example with EUR 10,000 of gross rent and EUR 2,100 withheld: on the apartment at 21%, EUR 2,100 is due and the balance is EUR 0. At 26%, EUR 2,600 is due and the balance is EUR 500. When a withholding applies is covered in Taxes for landlords in Sicily, Italy: what applies to short-term rentals in 2026.

Advance payments and balance

The cedolare secca is also paid in advance. Since 2021 the advance is 100% of the tax due (Art. 3 para. 4 D.Lgs. 23/2011) ⁵. For the advance payments, the instructions to the Modello REDDITI PF 2026 (row LC2) set these rules ⁷:

• What counts is the difference in row LC1, column 5 of the return, meaning the tax minus the credited withholdings.
• Below EUR 52, no advance is due. From EUR 52, 100% of that amount is due.
• Below EUR 257.52, it is paid in one sum by November 30, 2026.
• From EUR 257.52, there are two installments: 40% by June 30, or by July 30 with 0.40% interest, and 60% by November 30.

If you expect less tax, you may pay correspondingly less in advance ⁷. Example: if the return shows EUR 1,000, EUR 400 is due in June and EUR 600 in November. You pay the balance for the tax year by the income tax payment deadline ¹⁵.

Owners who do not live in Italy

The law does not tie the cedolare secca to residence: Art. 3 para. 1 D.Lgs. 23/2011 names the owner or holder of a right in rem to use the property, and Circular 26/E of 2011 reserves the option for individuals ⁵⁶. Italian income from buildings is taxable in Italy even for owners abroad, and they must report it ⁸. For this, non-residents use the same Modello REDDITI PF as residents and need an Italian codice fiscale. In that return, your house in Sicily never counts as your main residence ⁸.

For tax year 2025, the deadline for non-residents who are abroad is November 30, 2026, for mailing by registered letter or filing through Fisconline. Payments from abroad can be made by bank transfer in euros, not by check ⁸. The Agenzia delle Entrate guide on short-term rentals does not expressly mention non-residents; the option follows from the text of the law, the circular and the filing instructions. The German side is explained in Taxes for landlords in Sicily, Italy: what applies to short-term rentals in 2026.

Outdated claims: 30%, 26% for everyone, four apartments

Anyone researching the tax on a vacation apartment in Sicily in 2026 finds claims that the text of Art. 207 TUIR and the Agenzia delle Entrate guide do not support ¹⁴:

• 26% for all apartments: A November 2025 draft proposed this single rate. It does not appear in Art. 207 para. 2 TUIR; 21% for one chosen unit remains.
• A 30% tier: Neither Art. 207 TUIR nor the guide mentions one.
• Four apartments: That was the limit through 2025. Since tax year 2026 it is two, and the threshold of the Sicilian region for non-entrepreneurial vacation rentals has also been two units since L.R. 12/2026 ¹⁰.
• A flat 5% deduction: That deduction belongs to ordinary taxation. The cedolare secca is calculated on the full gross rent.

The changes from 2024 to 2026 at a glance

Next step

Write down the gross rent of each apartment for the tax year, and decide in your tax return at the latest which apartment gets the 21% rate. Net income from a Sicilian vacation home: what is left after commission and tax (example) works out with an example what is left after commission and tax. Listing with Terra Mia Immobiliare is free, the commission applies only when a booking is concluded, and the guest pays you directly. This guide summarizes the law as of November 2, 2026 in general terms and is not tax or legal advice. For your individual case, consult a Steuerberater in Germany and a commercialista or avvocato in Italy.