Sicily fights against illegal tourist rentals: here is the Regional Identification Code (CIR)
Sicily has decided to take measures aimed at ending the abuse of illegal tourist rentals. For this reason, a decree has been issued that obliges residents to census all the structures intended for tourist accommodation, including second homes by the sea that are rented for a few days or weeks. This is a measure aimed at curbing private, unorganized and entrepreneurial activity.
On July 27, 2022, the tourism, sports and entertainment assessor Manlio Messina signed an assessorial decree (No. 1783) that establishes the Regional Identification Code (C.I.R.). This tool obliges both accommodation facilities and tourist accommodation to have it to facilitate checks by the competent authorities, including the tax authorities.
To avoid confusion and ambiguity, the decree establishes an unequivocal definition of tourist accommodation: real estate units, even if owned by individual owners and not classified, that offer hospitality for periods of less than 30 days.
But that’s not all! Owners/managers of tourist accommodation are now required to do this in an mandatory manner:
- Trace incoming guests and send their personal data to the local police headquarters via the “alloggiatiweb” web platform;
- Communicate, for statistical purposes, daily tourist arrivals to the Turist@t survey system, a web platform created specifically for this purpose.
With the decree, there are no loopholes for cheats. Any advertising offer for accommodation facilities and/or tourist accommodation must clearly and visibly include the C.I.R., with size and font equal to that used in the denomination itself. The obligation applies not only to owners who independently manage and promote their own structure, but also to anyone who exercises real estate intermediation activities or manages telematic portals, websites, social media, even on servers located outside the European Union.
There is no room for errors:
The Registrant Identification Code (C.I.R.) must be inserted in all advertising materials relating to the furnished rental. Article 7 of the decree requires the C.I.R. to be indicated at all times on all promotional, commercial and booking materials, whether in printed, digital or other media forms.
What is the deadline for the obligation to have the CIR?
After the publication of the decree in the Official Gazette of the Sicilian Region on August 12, 2022 (page 60), there is a thirty-day window to comply with the obligation. So, with a final deadline of September 11, 2022, we should have enough time to comply with the rules.
Anyone who does not comply with the rules is punished in a significant way: the sanctions provided for by the assessorial decree range from 500 to 5000 euros, with a double increase in case of repeated violation.
What steps do I need to follow to obtain the Regional Identification Code (C.I.R.)?
Registering a tourist accommodation can be complicated and time-consuming, but following the right procedure can help. In the case of accommodations in cities and towns, the relevant municipality must be involved and the online registration form must be completed on the turist@t platform. The regional assessor’s office published a circular in 2022 that clarifies all the details for the accuracy of the registration, number 27026 of August 10th.
The first step in offering hospitality in a accommodation is to present a Communication of Hospitality Offer to the municipality where it is located. To do this, you must fill out the appropriate forms and indicate:
- The owner’s details.
- All the information necessary to identify the property (address and cadastral data);
- Indicate the title of ownership (such as owner, tenant, usufructuary, etc.);
- Receptive measures (number of rooms, number of beds, number of bathrooms, etc.).
- Verify that the property meets accessibility requirements for people with disabilities.
- The main form of rent (for example, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc.).
- Type of heating;
- If there is an air conditioning system;
- The appliances present, such as a refrigerator, oven and microwave, along with any other equipment.
- The web portals dedicated to promoting your accommodation.
There are also some cards to attach:
- Floor plan of the property;
- The documents to be submitted to the municipal administration include the habitability certificate, the certified notification of habitability (SCA) and the technical surveys on the installations.
- To verify the property’s urban and building compliance, a cadastral certificate must be submitted.
- If you want to sign the document with a signature, a ID card is required. If the signature is made in digital mode, an identity document is not required.
- To announce your structure on the turist@t web platform, you must create an account in the “Request an Account” section and simultaneously request the Regional Identification Code (C.I.R.), attaching the Hospitality Offer Communication already submitted to the municipality.
- What do I need to do after receiving the C.I.R.?
- According to Article 7 of the decree, the Regional Identification Code must be indicated in any form of communication relating to advertising, promotion, commercialization, and reservation/sale of the structure in any form, such as written or printed means or digital or web supports. As a result, we must indicate the code on our property advertisements, even on Facebook groups: in a visible manner in the title and with clarity in the entire text.
- The category of the accommodation, in this case “Tourist Accommodation”;
- The Regional Identification Code (C.I.R.).
It is also necessary to have a Certified Electronic Mail (PEC) address that will be used for communications between public entities and the structure.
Others Obligations
As previously stated, the decree also imposes two other important obligations regarding guest management:
- Within 24 hours of the arrival of guests, their data must be communicated to the competent Police Station through the “alloggiatiweb” web platform. To access this platform, you will have to present yourself personally to the competent Police Station.
- To comply with the regulations on tourist accommodation, it is mandatory to enter the data of all guests in the “Turist@t” platform within a maximum of 24 hours from arrival and departure. In addition, any periods of temporary closure of the accommodation must be indicated.
Who will be responsible for checks and penalties?
Circular 27026 of August 10, 2022 has clarified that the metropolitan cities and the free municipal consortia will be in charge of periodically checking the suitability of tourist accommodation and lodgings. The municipalities, on the other hand, will impose the penalties and the revenues generated will be allocated to the municipal budget.
It is natural to wonder if illegally operating tourist lodgings, but with sewer, water, and electricity connections for years, where the owners regularly pay the municipal tax and the waste tax, are entitled to the Regional Identification Code (CIR).
Many people will ask the same question. We are trying to find an answer by consulting with different local communities. We will update this article as soon as possible with a detailed answer.
The update date is September 17, 2022.
The Region has issued a circular with protocol No. 30549 of 15/09/2022 that postpones the deadline for the CIR application to October 31, 2022, previously set for September 11 and then extended to 30. This circular provides the reasons for the concession:
1) to simplify the obtaining of the CIR.
2) to manage a greater number of requests in the shortest possible time.
From October 3, 2022, instead of being obliged to submit the Communication of Hospitality Offer to the municipality, the applicants will have to fill out a self-certification form containing all the identifying information of the person who is applying and the property to which it refers. This form must then be sent via PEC to the address of the Regional Department of Tourism, Sport, and Entertainment. This form will be available on the Turist@t platform starting from next October 3, 2022.
Some of our readers may be wondering:
Why not immediately start the new self-certification procedure instead of waiting until October 3?
The reason could be organizational and technical: a specific PEC reception service would be needed to divide the necessary time appropriately and start the bureaucratic procedures. After October 3, 2022, it seems that municipalities would no longer be involved in the reception of CMOs.
Does the new self-certification form need to be sent only to the department or also to the municipality where the accommodation is located as required for the current CMO?
While it is not clear from reading the circular, it seems that the new model must be sent only to the department, with the municipalities no longer involved in the receipt of CMOs.
In the new self-certification module, will it be sufficient to certify only the identifying data of the applicant and the property, or will the necessary documentation to be attached to the current CMO also have to be certified, even though it will no longer be mandatory to attach it?
The main goal of the CIR is to fight against building irregularities and improve the quality of the tourist offer in Sicily. For this reason, it may be extremely difficult for the department to issue the CIR for properties that are not habitable or have decaying electrical systems. To avoid this, proving the presence of a habitability certificate (or a certified report of habitability) and the perfect functioning of the systems, at least the electrical system, would be crucial to obtain the CIR.
One might think that by excluding some documents on safety measures for guests, even at the cost of the quality of the tourist product, the main goal of the decree won’t be achieved. Perhaps it would’ve been better to consider the CIR as a tool to combat tax irregularities rather than building irregularities?
We will constantly keep you informed on this subject.
