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Platforms, agencies and withholding: the intermediary's duties
The module’s worked examples, then cases to attempt before revealing their solution · 9 sections · 673 words · 8 min
Worked example
Agency and platform on the same booking
An owner in Lecce instructs an agency to let his house for short stays. The agency posts the listing on a large platform, where a guest books and pays €1,200. The agency has told the platform it acts as intermediary: the platform withholds nothing and reports nothing, while the agency withholds €252 and sends the data.
Worked example
Commission inside or outside the price
A stay costs the guest €1,000, of which €150 is the commission the owner owes the agency. The withholding is €1,000 × 21% = €210. If the agency instead invoices the €150 separately to the guest, the price of the stay is €850 and the withholding drops to €850 × 21% = €178.50.
Worked example
A cancellation after payment
A guest books a €600 stay in May; the platform pays the owner €474 and keeps €126 of withholding, paid over in June. In September, before the withholding has been certified, the guest cancels and is refunded. The platform may give the €126 back to the owner and recover it by offset, using the recovery code for the current year.
Worked example
Twenty stays, one line
In 2026 a platform concludes twenty short contracts for the same flat in Verona, all with the same owner, for a total of €9,800. Instead of twenty separate reports it may send one combined report for that property and that landlord, with the year's total gross fees.
Worked example
A forgotten report
On 5 July 2027 a small agency realises it never sent the data for a contract concluded in 2026. The 30 June deadline passed five days earlier, so it is still within the 15 days: if it sends the data at once, the penalty is halved to a range of €125 to €1,000 instead of €250 to €2,000.
Worked example
A platform based in another EU State
A platform based in Ireland, with no permanent establishment in Italy, collects €3,000 of short-let rent for an owner in Bari. It may choose to pay over the €630 withholding and send the data itself, or appoint a tax representative to do so as the party responsible for the tax. For the owner the withholding to offset is the same.
Worked example
Tourist tax collected by the platform
In 2026 a platform collects bookings for a flat in a municipality that has introduced the tourist tax and, together with the price, the tax charged to guests under the municipal regulation. The platform is liable for paying it to the municipality and for the regulation's duties. By 30 June 2027 it files online the combined return of what it collected in 2026.
Worked example
Sofia's balance
Sofia took €14,000 through the platform and suffered €14,000 × 21% = €2,940 of withholding. If the flat is the unit she names at 21%, the cedolare is €2,940 and the balance is zero. Were it her second short-let flat, at 26%, the cedolare would rise to €3,640 and the balance to €3,640 − €2,940 = €700.
Practical case
Three bookings in March
In March 2026 a platform collects three bookings for Luisa's flat, totalling €2,400. The price includes €240 of commission that Luisa owes the platform. One guest also paid a €200 security deposit, held by the platform until check-out. How much is the withholding, by when must it be paid over and how is the F24 filled in?
Hint: Separate what pays for the let from what is a guarantee, then remember that commission built into the price stays in the base.
Show the solution
The withholding base is the amount owed for the let, €2,400, commission included because it is built into the price. The €200 security deposit is not a fee and stays out. The withholding is €2,400 × 21% = €504. The platform pays it over by F24 by 16 April 2026, in the Erario section, under tax code 1919, entering 0003 as the month and 2026 as the reference year. It then certifies it to Luisa, who will offset it in her return.
Answer: A €504 withholding, paid by 16 April 2026 under code 1919 with reference 0003/2026
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