Italy to raise taxes for flat owners doing multiple short-term rentals

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government plans to hike taxes on short-term rentals by people letting out more than one flat, a draft of the 2024 budget seen by Reuters showed on Saturday.

The move comes in the wake of criticism of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms for contributing to a shortage of affordable housing for residents in the most popular tourist destinations.

Italian legislation allows owners to rent out their apartments and pay a tax rate of 21% on earnings.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intends to raise that band to 26% "in the case of the short-term rental of more than one apartment in each tax period," the draft showed.

However, the government has scaled back its initial plans as previous drafts reported by Reuters envisaged increased taxation also applying to short-term rentals of single apartments.

Meloni told reporters on Saturday that the budget bill for 2024 agreed by her cabinet would be put before parliament on Monday. The approval process is expected to take until December.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Keith Weir)