The terms host and guest are an invention of AIRBNB: they do not find a legal correspondence in our Italian legal system. AIRBNB's mirage is to make the guests believe that what is done in the United States can also be done in other states, where there are different rules and laws.
The art.117 of our Constitution delegates to the single Regions (20) the legislative competence in matters of tourism. Each Region has enacted different tourism laws. Some Regions have inappropriately equated the tourist lease signed by private entities with a hotel-type accommodation business.
The Italian host should always clarify in his announcement and in the rules of the house what kind of activity he does: tourist leasing, Bed & Breakfast, CAV (Holiday House), Guest House and what kind of services he offers, included or not included in the price, to avoid unpleasant misunderstandings.
Any lease, including tourism, must be written to be valid. Few Italian hosts sign a contract with a tourist. If the duration of the contract exceeds 30 days, the contract must be registered.
Many Italian hosts ignore or pretend they do not know they have to sign a tourist contract. "I only make Airbnb rentals", as if it were a tax-free type of contract formulated in the Cayman Islands, free from obligations. Some italians hosts sign contracts of pure fantasy.
Those who makes tourist lease can provide the cleaning service and change of linen, but can not provide breakfast to guests and adopt signs as an advertising medium. Some Regions forbid to advertise the lease on booking sites.
Only a Bed & Breakfast can provide breakfast to guests.
With regard to the receipt of the fee (if it is worth more than € 77.47 a stamp duty of € 2.00 must be imposed for each guest), I can tell you that the landlord (in this case, the creditor) is not required to release it ( it is not an obligation imposed by the law), unless it is requested by the guest (in this case, the debtor), pursuant to art. 1199 of the Civil Code.
If, on the other hand, you book a Bed & Breakfast or a CAV, the manager must not let you sign a lease: it is not a tourist lease. Do not confuse tourist rentals and Bed & Breakfast or CAV (only in Lombardy the tourist rental is equivalent to the CAV). A manager of a Bed & Breakfast or a CAV will never let you sign a lease.
Those who rent an apartment or a Bed & Breakfast or a CAV must:
° communicate in the Municipality the tourist location, Bed & Breakfast, CAV;
° communicate to the Police Headquarters the arrivals and departures of the guests;
° comunicate to the Province, for statistical purposes, the number of tourists;
° collect the tourist tax from the guest, if the Municipality requires it: for example, Rome will enter into agreements with the main market operators to define the payment procedures. The Roman hosts will collect the fee at least in the initial phase, as it happened in Bologna, Florence, Milan and Genoa where the tax is entered directly in the payment count that the guest must make.
° pay the taxes: declare the rents in the tax return.
I hope I have been helpful. I do not know if you've been able to follow me to the end, I strongly doubt it. Poor guest! You will think that Italy is a cage of madmen. I tell you a secret: with a dose of healthy realism, it is often what I think of my country.
Emily