hotel taxes 2015

VAT or value added tax (similar to sales tax) is included in the price. There is a additional local Tourist Stay tax which varies depending on municipality and number of stars of the hotel. In Florence for example I think is one euro per star per day. So for a 3 star hotel it would be an additional 3 euro per day. Don't remember if it's per person. The tax was introduced to finance tourism related infrastructure including artwork restoration. It's not a big amount so don't worry. Just a handful of euro.

Roberto - do you know if the VAT can be recouped like on purchased items?

Ccortezzo, VAT on hotels is not refundable. See advice from Rick Steves here.

As Roberto said, the nightly amount varies, less in B&Bs. You can always ask them when you reserve if they do not tell you.

most hotels have a "city tax" too which must be paid in cash. the B&B we stayed at in Florence had that as well as the hotel we stayed at in Venice. Both were 2 euro per person per day.

ccortezzo, VAT is refunded only on items which are exported intact and unused from the EU. This is because the EU, like most other countries, does charge tax on exports.
Services (hotels, transport), meals and anything else you use before you leave the EU is taxed.
Hotel prices, like all other prices are quoted including VAT. Tourist tax on hotel rooms is a local tax and is often not included in the listed price, but is not usually significant.

The tourism tax mentioned above is a national law but the Italian government gave municipalities some flexibility on the amount to be charged. The tax is separate from the room charge and when it was first introduced hotels required guests to pay it separately in cash. The reason was because the law was not too clear and hoteliers were fearful that VAT would apply on that amount if included in the invoice and that invoiced amount would be included in the total sales calculation for income tax purposes. The matter was later clarified by the tax authorities (VAT does not apply to this amount and the amount is not included in total Sales of the establishment) and now it will be shown separately in the invoice but hotels no longer require to pay it separately in cash. If your hotel still does it's just because the mother of the idiots is always pregnant.

Roberto, thank you for that last remark. Is that an Italian saying?