English-speaking accountant in Lucca
English-Speaking Accountant in Lucca — Because the Flat Rental Tax Isn’t Flat Anymore
Richard and Helen bought a farmhouse near Lucca in 2021, and two years later added a small guest cottage on the same plot, letting both out separately through Airbnb during the summer months. For years, the maths had been simple: cedolare secca, a flat 21% on rental income, no matter how many properties they owned. When they filed their return for the 2026 tax year, their English-speaking accountant in Lucca flagged something they hadn’t seen coming — a reform that quietly split the flat rate into a tiered one. Their farmhouse still qualified for 21%. Their cottage, as a second let property, was now taxed at 26%.
A flat tax that picked up a second rate
Cedolare secca has long been the go-to choice for non-resident owners letting Italian property, replacing progressive IRPEF taxation (which runs as high as 43%) with a single flat substitute rate. From the 2026 tax year, that flat rate applies in full only to one property of the owner’s choosing: 21% on the first, 26% on any second short-let property, and a presumption of business activity — with VAT registration and full commercial tax treatment — from a third. For an owner with a single Italian property, nothing changes. For anyone letting two, the difference is real money, and it isn’t automatic: the owner chooses which property gets the 21% rate on their tax return. An English-speaking accountant in Lucca makes sure that choice is made deliberately, not left to default.
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Why the booking platform’s number isn’t the final number
Airbnb, Booking.com, and similar platforms automatically withhold 21% of gross rental income at source and remit it directly to the Agenzia delle Entrate — a system many owners assume settles the matter entirely, since it looks and feels like tax already paid. For a single property taxed at 21%, that’s broadly correct. For a second property now taxed at 26%, the platform’s withholding only covers part of what’s owed, leaving a 5% shortfall the owner must settle personally when filing their annual Italian tax return. An English-speaking accountant in Lucca reconciles this gap every year rather than letting a client discover it as an unexpected balance due.
One property or a small portfolio: two different conversations
An owner with a single rental unit near Lucca has a genuinely simple annual filing under the new rules — nothing has changed for them. An owner with two or more, a profile increasingly common among the area’s British second-home community who let a main house and a converted annex or guest cottage separately, now needs an actual strategy: which property carries the 21% rate, how the second is taxed, and at what point a third property would tip the whole arrangement into business territory. An English-speaking accountant in Lucca has this conversation early, before a second purchase turns a simple tax return into a more complex one.
What does an English-speaking accountant in Lucca cost?
For a single non-resident owner filing a straightforward cedolare secca return, expect fees in the region of €150–€250 a year. Owners with two rental properties, requiring the platform withholding reconciliation and the annual rate election, should expect somewhat higher fees reflecting the added complexity. Either way, an English-speaking accountant in Lucca costs a fraction of what an unreconciled 5% shortfall, discovered late with penalties attached, would end up costing instead.
How to find your English-speaking accountant in Lucca
Our directory at pros4expats.com lists English-speaking accountants based in Lucca and across the province. Each profile shows languages spoken, the type of cases handled, and direct contact details. No middleman, no subscription — just verified professionals, updated regularly.
Lucca and its long-standing English-speaking community
Lucca and its surrounding countryside have drawn British buyers for decades, part of the wider « Chiantishire » phenomenon that spans this stretch of Tuscany — walled, human-scaled, and historically less disputed than Florence, yet just as rich in architecture. That long-established presence means a reasonable supply of commercialisti used to non-resident paperwork, though genuinely English-speaking ones remain harder to find. An English-speaking accountant in Lucca fills exactly that gap, for an increasingly multi-property community navigating rules that changed under them in 2026.
Beyond the accountant: your full English-speaking support in Lucca
Our directory also covers English-speaking lawyers, notaries, and real estate agents in Lucca and the surrounding province — so whether you’re buying a second property or simply keeping up with this year’s filing, the whole process happens in a language you’re fully comfortable with.
123 PROFESSIONS IN OUR DIRECTORY… IF YOURS ISN’T THERE, IT MUST BE A RARE BIRD.
FIND THE PRO YOU’RE LOOKING FOR – IT’S FREE!
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