Tourism Department, ‘collection of tourist tax collected directly in the Valley’ – La Prima Linea

The regional tourism department replies to VdA Aperta’s statements spread this morning regarding various problems – encountered by the minority coalition – regarding the collection and payment of the tourist tax by short-term rental managers.

“In Valle d’Aosta the tourist tax is collected directly by the managers of accommodation facilities and accommodation for tourist use – we read in a detailed note from councilor Giulio Grosjacques – while collection through the platforms is not foreseen At present, no Aosta Valley municipality has entered into agreements with electronic portals for the collection of the tax”.

This is, the councilor maintains, “a choice defined by regional law no. 10/2023 (that on tourist rentals, ed.), which was also possible to adopt as a result of our status as an autonomous region and which was shared with the Municipalities through Celva, with the aim of having a correct application and control of the tax, for the benefit of the operators and their guests”.

In recent days, the department has sent a communication via email to every landlord with a Cir recognition identification code and to every tourist-accommodation operator to highlight the functioning of the tax and provide them with the amount of the tariffs, with a link to all the rules defined by regional legislation and resolution 1146 of 2023, concerning for example reductions in the low season and cases of exemption from the tax (from the eighth consecutive night, children under 15, people with disabilities, school groups, etc.).

“In these communications – continues the note – it was highlighted in particular that although the Airbnb portal has provided different indications at a national level, in Valle d’Aosta no electronic portal can collect from guests of tourist accommodation facilities and accommodation for tourist use the tourist tax in the name and on behalf of their managers”.

The Department notes that, “in a national panorama in which various Municipalities have published notices similar to the information that the Department has sent to each individual operator (for example Como, Cuneo, Finale Ligure, Riomaggiore, Pienza) and even, according as reported by the media, the Municipality of Rome has denounced an electronic platform for tax evasion, the choice of the regional legislator makes the application of the tax not only safer, from the point of view of the verification and traceability of the amounts and the application of the expected exemptions and reductions, but also simpler for the majority of users, who otherwise, especially for those who operate on multiple channels and multiple platforms, would find themselves having to use different payment methods with the risk of non-compliance which would have repercussions on them them with all the sanctioning consequences of the case”.

And again: “By relying on a platform that manages the process in a centralized way, the risk of running into problems with application or even partial evasion of the tax is not negligible, and in this case the difficulties and burdens would largely fall on the operators, who could find themselves having to manage complaints from users or even enforcement measures by the Municipalities: in this regard it is easy to see how the indications provided by some platforms to their hosts speak of cumulative payments for an entire area, indicate a periodicity different from that provided for by the regional law, highlight limits in the management of exemptions, report passages that are not entirely clear which refer to prior agreements with the Municipalities which, it is reiterated, do not exist in Valle d’Aosta, and which in any case make the operator in case of errors”.

The Tourism Councilor “notes with regret that someone (the reference is evidently to VdA Aperta ed.) immediately argued on the subject, without first discussing with the Department to find out the reasons for the initiative and evidently without carrying out any further investigation: just browse for a few minutes on the internet to see that many Municipalities on the national territory have acted like the Valle d’Aosta Region and that, at present, direct payment by the platforms constitutes an only apparent simplification to which the prevalence of Municipalities in Italy has decided not to join.”

The note concludes by reiterating that “the regional Administration has acted precisely to protect all operators and to simplify their obligations. It is highlighted that, precisely to accompany operators in this phase of starting the application of the new stay, all the information necessary for its correct management is always published and updated on the regional website and that the offices of the department are available to provide any clarifications”.