The CIN code for short-term rentals: what it is and how to apply

The CIN is the code that identifies your home when you let it for short periods. You apply for it once, it goes in every listing, and it's displayed outside the property. Without it, you shouldn't publish a listing.

Here you'll find the procedure step by step, what you need to do it, and the thing almost nobody tells you: the CIN doesn't replace your region's code. You need both.

The rules change: before you act, check the sources linked here.

What the CIN is

CIN stands for Codice Identificativo Nazionale, the national identification code. It's a unique code assigned to every property unit used for tourist or short-term lets, and to every accommodation establishment. It's there to bring order: before it, there were only regional codes, different from one region to the next and impossible to compare.

It was introduced by Article 13-ter of Decree-Law 145 of 18 October 2023 (in Italian).

Who has to apply

Anyone who rents out a property for short stays: owners who let it themselves, managers who let it on someone else's behalf, and anyone who sublets. It doesn't matter whether you do it as a business or not: the obligation is the same, and doing it as a business, if anything, adds others. And there's no minimum number of nights below which you're exempt: the obligation covers lets for tourist purposes and short lets, meaning contracts of up to thirty days.

You need a CIN for each property unit, not one per owner. If you have three flats, you apply for three codes.

How to apply, step by step

You apply online, on the Ministry of Tourism's Banca Dati Strutture Ricettive, its national database of accommodation: bdsr.ministeroturismo.gov.it (in Italian).

1. Log in with SPID or CIE, Italy's digital identity systems. There are no dedicated credentials: you get in with your own digital identity.
2. Enter the property's land registry details. Sheet, parcel and sub-unit (foglio, particella, subalterno): you'll find them on the land registry extract (visura catastale) or on the purchase deed.
3. State the type (locazione turistica, casa vacanze or struttura ricettiva: tourist let, holiday home or accommodation establishment) and the details of the unit.
4. Self-certify that you meet the requirements, including the safety requirements for the accommodation.
5. The platform issues the code at the end of the procedure.

The full procedure, with screenshots, is in the manual for private operators (in Italian) published by the Ministry. If you get stuck, there's a help desk (in Italian).

What it costs

You don't pay for the CIN. It's issued free of charge: anyone who asks you for a fee to obtain it is selling you the time it takes to fill in a form, not the code.

What can cost money is meeting the requirements you self-certify, for example the safety equipment in the accommodation.

Where it's written and where it's displayed

The code is no use if it stays in a drawer. It goes in two places:

• In every listing, on whatever platform or channel you publish the home: Airbnb, Booking, your own website, posts on social media.
• Outside the building. The law specifically says stabile: that's the building, not the door of the flat.

It's the part owners forget most often, and it's also the easiest for anyone carrying out checks to see.

How to check a CIN

There's a public search page (in Italian) on the Ministry's portal: you enter the code and see which property it belongs to.

It's worth knowing for two reasons. If you're a guest, you can check that the home you're booking is properly registered. If you're an owner, it's why the code is a sign of transparency rather than a nuisance: those who display it stand apart from those who don't.

The CIN isn't enough: your region's code

This is the part that causes the most confusion, because each region gives its own code a different name. The national CIN sits alongside the regional code; it doesn't replace it.

In the regions where we work:

• Piedmont: it's called the CIR, and it comes from the regional tourism database. Details on the Region's page (in Italian); for tourist lets there's a dedicated page (in Italian).
• Aosta Valley: the CIR, introduced by regional law 11/2023 and issued by a dedicated regional platform (in Italian) for tourist lets. First the CIR on the platform, then the CIN on the national database: the order matters. The Region's page (in Italian) explains the procedure.
• Lombardy: this one is also called the CIR, and you need it to obtain the CIN; once you have the CIN, that is the only code your listings need, as the Region's note explains (in Italian). The procedure is on the Region's page (in Italian).
• Lazio: the CIR, which has replaced the earlier CISE since September 2024. The Region's page (in Italian).
• Liguria: here there are two codes, and that's not a typo. The CITR covers accommodation establishments, the CITRA flats let for tourist use. Which one you need depends on how the home is classified: the Region's page (in Italian) sets out the difference.
• Sicily: the CIR, assigned by the regional system. The implementing circular (in Italian) explains how to apply, and the properties with a CIR can be looked up in a public list (in Italian).
• Sardinia: it isn't called CIR but IUN, Identificativo Univoco Numerico (unique numerical identifier). How to apply for the IUN and the CIN is explained on the regional portal (in Italian).

If you have homes in different regions, don't assume the procedure is the same: it isn't.

And the other formalities

The CIN is the first step, not the only one. For the same home, before you host anyone, you also need:

• the notification to the council (comunicazione al Comune), which in some cities is a full application to the SUAP, the council's one-stop office for businesses;
• credentials for Alloggiati Web, the State Police portal through which guests are registered;
• the tourist tax (imposta di soggiorno), where the council applies it, under its own rules;
• the tax regime under which you declare the income, which you choose with your accountant.

Local rules change from region to region and from one council to the next: the page for your city sums them up, and at the property visit we check them against your case.

Why it pays to do it first

The platforms are required to check that the code is there: without it, the listing won't stay online. That's the practical reason the CIN is done while the home is being prepared, not at the last minute — without it, you simply don't publish.

The full picture of the obligations is in the law itself (in Italian) and on the Ministry of Tourism website (in Italian). For your specific case, the right people to ask are at your council.

Who handles it if we manage the home

We do. The CIN application, the regional code, the notification to the council and the Alloggiati Web credentials are all part of the management: we don't send you a list of things to do, we do them.

If the home is already up and running, we don't redo anything: we check that everything is there and in order, and deal only with what's missing or has expired.

The tourist tax follows the city council's rules, which set the rates and exemptions: how it's handled for your home we agree with you. For tax matters, your accountant is the reference; if you have a question, ask us.

What we need from you are the home's documents and your own:

• an identity document;
• the land registry floor plan (planimetria catastale);
• the land registry extract;
• the APE, the energy performance certificate;
• whatever else your Region asks for, because they don't all ask for the same things.

We also need your digital identity for the procedures that require the owner's signature. We handle the rest, city by city, because the local rules vary.

What the management includes is set out on the short-term rental management page; if you'd like to know first what the home could earn, start with what a short-term rental flat earns and what management costs. The estimate is free.