I have the same question about my two reservations for Rome apartments next Spring. I also wondered what was at really at stake (simple mistake or double-dipping) and what would be the best course of action. I first used Airbnb’s help chat, but got only very general and careful answers, leading to the advice to communicate with the host.
I did some digging – being able to read Italian helped a lot – and I was able to clarify the issues at hand – or so I think.
(1) There is indeed a regulation from the city of Rome (and other Italian cities) requiring hosts (in fact all types of accommodation) to collect the occupancy tax (known as « imposta di soggiorno », « tassa di soggiorno » and « contributo di soggiorno ») for all non-Roman guests. Hosts must report every three months the number of guests and nights, and remit the corresponding taxes.
(2) Since mid-2020, there is an agreement between Airbnb and the « Comune » of Rome according to which Airbnb adds this tax to the fees at booking and remits it to the administration. https://www.turismoroma.it/en/news/tax-collection-agreement-between-airbnb-and-roma-capitale
This already existed in other Italian cities, for instance Florence (where by the way there was no mention of a tax to be paid to the host upon arrival, for the apartment I reserved a few weeks ago).
(3) Thus, hosts should now have to remit this tax only for their non-Airbnb guests, and shouldn’t have to ask it to Airbnb guests.
However, according to this discussion (in Italian) in the Airbnb forums, around October 2020, about the way hosts should fill their trimestral tax form to account for the new system, things are not that simple.
https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Supporto/Tassa-di-Soggiorno-Comune-di-Roma-non-applicata-nella-t...
First, hosts hadn’t (at the time) received any information, from Airbnb or the City of Rome, about this change. Furthermore as the form hadn’t been modified, hosts didn’t know how to distinguish Airbnb guests for those for which they have to remit the tax. There are many thousands of Airbnb hosts in Rome, but less than 1 000 users visited this discussion; this suggests that many of them may simply be unaware of the new rules.
Some participants in the discussion communicated with the City, receiving conflicting answers. Many feared to be caught in a bureaucracy nightmare (something that happens not only Italy, by the way) if they happened to fill the form incorrectly.
(4) All this has led me to the following course of action: communicating with the host to ask questions, assuming they are simply unaware of the new regulation, or fear problems resulting from an incorrectly filled tax form. I would certainly wouldn’t suggest or allude to any wrongdoing or their part (like pocketing the tax).
I would ask something like: Are you aware of the 2020 agreement on occupancy tax between Airbnb and the City of Rome? https://www.turismoroma.it/it/notizie/nuova-convenzione-tra-airbnb-e-roma-capitale-il-pagamento-del-....
With this agreement, shouldn’t hosts now collect this tax upon arrival only for non-Airbnb guests?
By the way, have you seen this October 2020 discussion on the subject among Roman Airbnb hosts?
https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Supporto/Tassa-di-Soggiorno-Comune-di-Roma-non-applicata-nella-t...
If the host doesn’t answer, or keep insisting that they have to collect the tax, I wouldn’t argue further. I would eventually pay the tax on arrival (after asking the host if they have reconsidered their stance). But I would require a receipt, in order to ask Airbnb a refund of the tax included in the fee at booking time. I don’t know if that would work though.
