2027 budget and lettings in Trieste: the proposed 5% flat tax

For now the 2027 budget law is a proposal: bill A.C. 3174-bis is before the Chamber of Deputies. If it passes as written, regulated rent leases (canone concordato) signed in Trieste in 2027 would pay the flat tax (cedolare secca) at 5% instead of 10%, and at 1% if the tenant is under 36, on rents from 2027 to 2031. The leases you already have stay at 10%.

What exactly does article 5 propose?

Today the flat tax is 21%, cut to 10% for regulated rent leases in high housing pressure towns (article 203, paragraph 2, of the consolidated income tax code, legislative decree 117/2026, which applies from 1 January 2027). Trieste is on the list in CIPE resolution 87/2003.

Article 5 of the bill adds an article 360-quinquies to that code, with «temporary» measures:

• for regulated rent leases signed in 2027, the rate falls to 5% on rents from 2027 to 2031;
• it falls to 1% if the tenant, at the time of signing, is «under thirty-six»;
• it also covers the first renewal of those leases, but never beyond 31/12/2031.

Mind the threshold: the text says under 36, not 35, so a tenant who is 35 on the day of signing qualifies, one who has turned 36 does not.

Do my current leases move to 5%?

No. The relief covers only leases signed in 2027, and paragraph 6 excludes those «extended or renewed in 2027». A 3+2 signed in 2024 that renews automatically in 2027 stays at 10%.

Paragraph 5 closes the obvious shortcut. No 5% if on 30/09/2026 a lease between the same parties on the same home was running, was ended before its expiry and signed again in 2027. No 5% either if, after that early ending, you let in 2027 to someone who on 30/09/2026 lived or was domiciled in the home, or belongs to the former tenant's household.

One case the text leaves open: a lease that expires naturally in 2027 and is replaced by a new one with the same tenant. It is not an early ending; whether it counts as a «renewal», the bill does not say. Before relying on it you need the approved text and the instructions of the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate).

An example: a regulated 3+2 at €650 a month

Assumptions: regulated rent of €650 a month, i.e. €7,800 a year, flat tax in every case.

• Flat tax per year€780Net per year€7,020

  Regulated rent today (10%)

• Flat tax per year€390Net per year€7,410

  Regulated lease signed in 2027 (5%)

• Flat tax per year€78Net per year€7,722

  Tenant under 36 (1%)

At 5% you save €390 a year, €1,950 over the five years 2027-2031. At 1% you save €702 a year, €3,510 over five years.

Against a free-market 4+4, which stays at 21%: to keep €7,410 the free lease must bring in at least €9,379.75 a year, i.e. €781.65 a month (7,410 ÷ 0.79 ÷ 12). With a tenant under 36 the threshold rises to €814.56 a month. The sum leaves out ILIA, the local property tax, which in Trieste is lower for regulated rent: the gap would be wider still.

Watch the dates. A 3+2 signed on 1 March 2027 ends in late February 2030 and renews to late February 2032: the rents for January and February 2032 go back to 10%.

Is it worth waiting until January to sign?

It depends on the months the home stays empty. A regulated lease signed in December 2026 stays at 10% for its whole term, because it is not «signed in 2027». With the example's figures, one empty month costs €650; the 5% saves €1,950 over five years.

But it is a sum built on a proposal. If the text changes or fails, the lost month does not come back. What counts is the date of signing («leases signed in 2027»), not the date of registration.

And if I let a shop?

The bill also extends the flat tax to shops (cadastral category C/1) up to 200 m², for leases signed in 2027, if the tenant uses the premises only for their business. The rate is 21%, cut to 10% in towns that are the capital of a metropolitan city.

Trieste is not one: law 56/2014 lists the metropolitan cities of the ordinary regions and leaves Sardinia, Sicily and Friuli Venezia Giulia to set up their own; the ISTAT list does not include Trieste. For a shop in Trieste, then, the proposed flat tax is 21%.

What changes for works on the home you let?

In 2026 the deduction for works on a dwelling other than your main home is 36%, on up to €96,000 per unit. For 2027 current law cuts it to 30%; the bill would keep it at 36%.

It also extends the furniture bonus (bonus mobili): 50% on up to €5,000 to furnish a renovated home. If you let furnished, it belongs in your sums.