Rent in cash in Trieste: is it allowed? Deposit and receipts

Yes: in Trieste you can take the rent in cash, as long as each payment stays below €5,000. The rule that rent on homes could only be paid by traceable means, in force from 2014, was repealed with effect from 1 January 2016. What remains is the receipt, with a €2 revenue stamp above €77.47, and a practical reason to prefer a bank transfer: without a bank trail, your receipts are the only proof of what you have been paid.

Can rent be paid in cash?

Yes. Law 147/2013 (article 1, comma 50) required rent on homes, public housing excepted, to be paid without cash whatever the amount. Two years later Law 208/2015 repealed that rule (article 1, comma 902), with effect from 1 January 2016.

Today the general rule applies: cash is banned when the transfer is equal to or above €5,000 (article 49 of Legislative Decree 231/2007, a limit in force since 1 January 2023). In 2014, when the rent rule existed, the general limit was €1,000 (article 12, comma 1, of Decree-Law 201/2011).

How is the €5,000 limit counted?

Per transfer. Rent paid month by month, as the lease provides, is not added up: for the Treasury Department (Dipartimento del Tesoro) there is no breach when several separate payments are the result of a prior agreement between the parties, such as payment by instalments. Splitting a single sum is still banned: the law targets payments that appear artificially split, and even with instalments the authorities can assess, case by case, whether they serve to get round the ban.

• The security deposit (deposito cauzionale) can be up to 3 months' rent (article 11 of Law 392/1978). With a rent of €2,000, a €6,000 deposit cannot be paid in cash, nor in two €3,000 instalments on signing day: splitting the payment for a single transaction, the Treasury writes, does not make it lawful.
• The fine runs from €3,000 to €50,000, with a minimum of €1,000 for breaches committed and contested from 1 January 2022 (article 63 of Legislative Decree 231/2007). For the Treasury, the breach involves both the person handing over the money and the person receiving it.

The receipt: who writes it, who pays the stamp?

The landlord must issue a receipt if the tenant asks for it, at the tenant's expense (article 1199 of the Civil Code). Above €77.47 each copy of the receipt carries €2 in stamp duty, paid with a stamp from an intermediary authorised by the Agenzia delle Entrate: the Agenzia restated this in ruling 129 of 2024.

Between you, the stamp is the tenant's cost, and the standard regulated-rent leases (canone concordato) say so: stamp duty on the lease and on the receipts that follow is paid by the tenant. Towards the tax office, if the stamp is missing, you are both jointly liable (article 22 of Presidential Decree 642/1972). The flat-rate tax (cedolare secca) replaces stamp duty on the lease, its extensions and terminations (article 3 of Legislative Decree 23/2011): that article does not mention rent receipts.

On the receipt: progressive number, date, amount, month, payment method, both parties' names, the lease registration details and a signature. You keep a copy.

Why a trail is in your interest

• If it ends up in court. Whoever claims that the right has been extinguished, for instance by payment, must prove the facts (article 2697 of the Civil Code), and payment can be proved by witnesses only within the limits set for contracts (article 2726). Bank statements and numbered receipts give you the arrears at once.
• Cash does not cover undeclared rent. An agreement for a rent higher than the registered one is void, and the tenant can claim back the difference within 6 months of handing the flat back (article 13 of Law 431/1998).
• Tax follows the lease. Property income is declared regardless of whether it has been received (article 26 of the TUIR, the income tax code); unpaid rent is left out only when an eviction notice for arrears (intimazione di sfratto) or a payment injunction proves it.
• The tenant's tax deductions. The basic one for a main home (article 16, comma 01, of the TUIR) is a fixed amount by income band. The one for students living away from home is 19% on up to €2,633 of rent and, since 2020, applies only to payments by bank transfer or another traceable method (Law 160/2019, comma 679).

In Trieste: the Comune's rent grant and the University's

• The Comune di Trieste rent grant. The 2026 call (rent paid in 2025, applications by 27 March 2026) requires proof of rent paid as a mandatory attachment and counts only the period actually paid: up to €3,110 in the lowest ISEE band. Instead of receipts, the form accepts a sworn statement from the landlord (dichiarazione sostitutiva) with the amounts: you sign it, and false statements are punished under the criminal code (article 76 of Presidential Decree 445/2000).
• The University of Trieste grant for students living away from home with a university ISEE of up to €20,000. The 2026 call requires, on pain of exclusion, receipts for the rent (invoices, named tax receipts, bank transfers or other traceable means) showing payment to the landlord under that lease. From a private landlord, the simplest proof is a bank transfer.

An example: €650 a month, cash or bank transfer

Assumptions: open-market 4+4 lease, registered at €650 a month, deposit of 3 months' rent, cedolare secca.

1. On signing: a €1,950 deposit (3 × 650) plus the first month, €2,600 in a single payment. Below €5,000: cash is allowed, with a receipt for the deposit too.
2. In cash, for a year: 12 receipts of €650, each above €77.47: 12 stamps of €2, €24 paid by the tenant.
3. By bank transfer: 12 credits with a payment reference; a receipt is needed only if the tenant asks for one.
4. Tax: €7,800 of annual rent (12 × 650) either way; with the 21% cedolare, €1,638.
5. If the tenant were a student living away from home (university at least 100 km from their home town and in another province): paying in cash, the deduction would be lost, up to €500.27 a year (19% of €2,633).

• MethodBank transfer (bonifico)Allowed?yes, any amount

  traceable for deductions too

  What to keep: bank statement with reference

• MethodChequeAllowed?yes

  from €1,000 up, with the payee's name and non-transferable

  What to keep: copy of the cheque and bank statement

• MethodCash below €5,000Allowed?yes

  €2 stamp above €77.47

  What to keep: copy of the numbered receipt

• MethodCash from €5,000 upAllowed?no

  fine from €1,000 to €50,000

• MethodCard (debit or credit)Allowed?yes

  the Agenzia accepts the debit card receipt

  What to keep: POS receipt and bank statement