In Milan the tourist tax has not yet found a definitive structure. After the so-called “Olympic” tariffs implemented on January 1st – which we had already written about in this article – the municipal council approved resolution no. 144 of 12 February 2026 with a new remodulation of the tariffs, in force from 1 April 2026. The regulatory driving force is the 2026 Budget Law, approved at the end of December, which opened up the possibility for Municipalities to further increase the tax by another 2 euros compared to the levels already set.
How rates change category by category
Palazzo Marino has chosen not to apply this option uniformly, but to redistribute the tariffs by band. The most obvious result is the jump in five-star hotels, which go from 10 to 12 euros per night, becoming the highest contribution ever applied in the city – and exceeding, at least for now, the Roman ceiling stuck at 10 euros. The four stars remain at 10 euros, while the three stars are standardized at 7 euros, with a slight reduction compared to the 7.40 euros of the Olympic rate. The most significant change in the opposite direction concerns two-star hotels, which drop to 4 euros, and one-star hotels, which remain at 3 euros. All non-hotel rates remain unchanged: 9.50 euros for bed & breakfasts, guest houses and short-term rentals, 7 euros for holiday homes, 3 euros for hostels and campsites.
The regulatory framework behind the double review
To understand why tariffs change twice in a few months, it is necessary to reconstruct the regulatory path. The so-called Advances Decree (DL 156/2025) allowed Lombard and Venetian municipalities located within 30 kilometers of the Olympic venues to increase the tax up to an additional 5 euros per night, in view of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games. The January Olympic rates had thus set the ceiling at 10 euros for high-end facilities. The Budget at the end of December then further raised the ceiling by another 2 euros: hence the new resolution in April. 30% of the increase on the five-star rate will be retained by the State and allocated to the National Fund for Minors, while the remaining portion will remain in the municipal coffers.
The position of the Municipality: partial adjustment awaiting a structural reform
The remodulation is presented by Palazzo Marino as a partial adjustment, not as a definitive reform of the system. The underlying reasoning is that Milan is in a disadvantaged regulatory position compared to other large tourist cities such as Rome, Florence and Venice, which have wider margins to modulate the tax. Meanwhile, in ten years the number of visitors to the Milanese capital has doubled, with increasing costs in terms of services, cleanliness, security, transport and management of public space. The declared objective is to make the system more fair and progressive: less burden on the lower brackets, more contribution from those who choose luxury. However, the remodeling remains temporary for 2026 and, according to the Municipality, will not significantly alter the overall revenue forecasts.
