You arrive in Verona for three days: a trade fair, a client meeting, a conference. The Arena drifts past in the background while you're already hunting for wifi and thinking about your expense report. If you hold a VAT number — Italian or from another EU country — what once seemed like a bureaucratic footnote has quietly become a minefield by 2025. The rules have changed. The host who accommodates you needs to know what to give you. And you need to know what to ask for.
Mandatory Traceability: the 2025 Change That Transforms Everything
From 1° gennaio 2025, with Legge di Bilancio n. 207/2024 and the subsequent clarifications issued in the Circolare n. 15/E dell'Agenzia delle Entrate del 22 dicembre 2025, the tax treatment of business travel expenses changed substantially. Reimbursements for meals, accommodation, travel and transport are excluded from employment income only if paid by traceable means. The same logic applies, symmetrically, to deductibility for the company.
In practice: expenses for meals, accommodation, travel and transport may only be deducted if made through traceable payment instruments, such as bank or postal transfers, payment cards (debit, credit or prepaid), bank or cashier's cheques, and electronic payment systems such as wire transfers. Paying for your Verona apartment in cash — even with a proper receipt — risks making that expense non-deductible, and the reimbursement taxable on the employee's payslip or the collaborator's statement.
One point that many people are unaware of: the mandatory traceable payment requirement applies to business travel expenses incurred in Italy. It does not apply to expenses incurred abroad, for which supporting documentation alone remains sufficient. On a business trip to Verona? Traceability is mandatory. Card, bank transfer, payment app: choose one of these instruments before you check in.
What Your Host Must Give You: Receipt or Invoice?
This is the chapter every VAT number holder should be familiar with before arriving in the city of the Scaligeri. The answer is not straightforward, because it depends on who manages the apartment.
If the host is a private individual without a VAT number — still a common situation in the short-term rental market — they are required to provide, upon the guest's request, a written receipt (also acceptable in PDF format) containing the mandatory details: the host's first name, surname and tax code, the guest's first and last name, the name of the property, the date, the amount, and the number of nights and guests. This is not an invoice: it carries no VAT and is not submitted to the SDI exchange system. But it is a valid document for an expense report.
If, on the other hand, the host operates as a VAT-registered entity — a registered accommodation facility, sole trader or company — then VAT becomes deductible on hotel or catering expenses incurred by the entrepreneur or self-employed professional for trips to a client or a trade fair, provided that an invoice is requested rather than a fiscal receipt or till receipt. The key phrase is: request an invoice made out to your company at the time of booking, not at the last minute during check-out.
There is a detail that those in Verona's rental sector know well but that often surprises visitors: even if you manage a non-entrepreneurial tourist rental, once you have issued your guest a receipt made out to their VAT number as a professional or to their company, you are no longer in the realm of the flat-rate cedolare secca tax regime. Bookings where a company or business is the paying party must be taxed under IRPEF only, without the 21% cedolare secca. For the host, this changes the tax treatment: it is one more reason to communicate your fiscal requirements before booking.
Verona's Tourist Tax: a Separate Line Item, Always Outside the Scope of VAT
Your expense report will also include the tourist tax. Verona applies it and — an interesting figure — it ranks as the second province in Veneto by revenue from this levy, with receipts of 23,7 milioni di euro in 2024, an increase of 11,6% compared to 2023.
The tax is applied for up to a maximum of quattro pernottamenti per person per month, with rates confirmed also for the year 2026. For a three-day business trip you pay it in full. Amounts range from 1,50 to 5 euro per person per night; registered tourist apartments apply an intermediate rate, typically around 2,50–3 euro.
From an expense report standpoint, the key point is this: the manager may document it by means of a simple named receipt stating the guest's personal details, the period of stay, the number of persons subject to the tax and the total amount — or by indicating the amount on the fiscal receipt or invoice as an "operation outside the scope of VAT." It is not a cost deductible for VAT purposes, but it is a real and documentable cost for the expense report. Keep it separate from the accommodation charge in your accounting system.
The Practical Checklist Before Arriving in Verona
Three short days, zero accounting surprises. These are the steps a guest with a VAT number — Italian or EU — should follow when booking an apartment in the historic centre of Verona:
- Communicate your fiscal requirements at the time of booking. Provide your company name and details, your VAT number (or EU VAT number) and explicitly ask whether the host can issue an invoice or a receipt made out to the company.
- Always pay by traceable means. Credit card, debit card, bank transfer or recognised payment apps. Paying in cash — even with a receipt — risks invalidating deductibility in Italy.
- Request a separate document for the tourist tax. It must be distinct from the accommodation charge and indicated as outside the scope of VAT. Do not allow it to be absorbed into a generic total.
- Keep proof of traceable payment. A bank statement or POS receipt is essential: documentation alone is no longer sufficient — from 2025 onwards, evidence of the payment method is also required.
- Verify the host's tax status before check-in. If they operate as a private individual, you will receive a receipt; if they operate as a business or registered accommodation facility, you can request a VAT invoice — and in that case, if your activity is pertinent to the trip, the VAT is deductible.
Does the Tourist Tax Go on the Expense Report?
Yes. It is a cost actually incurred during the business trip, documentable with a named receipt issued by the host. It is not deductible for VAT purposes (it falls outside the scope of VAT), but it is a deductible cost as an itemised travel expense, provided it is properly documented.
Can I Reclaim the VAT on Accommodation in Verona as an EU Professional?
If the host issues an invoice with VAT at 10% (entrepreneurial accommodation facility), a professional or company based in another EU country may apply for a refund of Italian VAT through the cross-border VAT refund procedure (Directive 2008/9/CE). This is a separate process, to be handled with your own tax adviser in your country of residence. [⚠ TO BE VERIFIED: check with your adviser for the specific timelines and requirements applicable in your EU country of residence.]
What Are the Risks If I Pay for Accommodation in Cash?
From 2025, if the payment is not traceable, the cost becomes non-deductible for the employing company and taxable for the employee, since the expense reimbursement is treated as "remuneration." In short: the expense costs you more, fiscally speaking, than what you actually paid.
If you are planning a business trip to Verona and are looking for accommodation in the historic centre, close to the Arena or the Teatro Ristori, with the ability to receive all the fiscal documentation you need for your expense report, explore the apartments at The Verona Stay. Before booking, write to us: we will tell you exactly what we can issue and how to handle payment in the most appropriate way for your needs.