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Explained: What is Italy’s marca da bollo and how do you get one?

If you intend to stay in Italy for the long term, you'll need to become familiar with this particularly Italian requirement.

The display counter at a tabaccheria in Rome.
The display counter at a tabaccheria in Rome. Tobacco shops are an important part of life in Italy, whether you smoke or not. Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP.

The marca da bollo, or Italy’s revenue stamp: in an age where technology is all around us, the requirement to purchase these little stickers can seem quaint – but they’re all-important.

Everyone who moves to Italy, or plans to, will soon hear about them: they’re required to make documents such as a nulla osta, permesso di soggiorno, carta di soggiorno and various notarised documents valid in the eyes of the law.

What exactly is a marca da bollo?

As mentioned above, the purpose of a marca da bollo is to make documents valid. The addition of this stamp changes any document you’re submitting to local authorities from being just an ordinary piece of paper to being that bit more important.

READ ALSO: Why the tabaccheria is essential to life in Italy – even if you don’t smoke

This process has been around since 1863, 15 years after the unification of Italy, and the stamps have undergone a fair few changes in their 170-year lifespan.

At first they looked like a postage stamp, but in 2007 they changed to rectangular stickers with barcodes on them issued by the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian tax office). They have a hologram strip on the left-hand side. 

Where do I get one from?

This is where it gets very old-school, but you can purchase a marca da bollo from practically any tobacco shop, known as a tabaccheria in Italian.

The person behind the counter usually prints it out for you. All you have to do is tell them how many you need and of what value.

In general, these all-important stickers come in values of €2 or €16. Check to see what value you need for your document and how many. For example, an application for a residency permit requires 2x €16 euro marca da bollo stamps.

Alternatively, you can also make a payment for a marca da bollo online using the [email protected] system. Digital invoices with electronic revenue stamps are a requirement for many self-employed people, for example.

However, for all other purposes, most people tend to go to the tobacco shops for ease.

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Once you’ve paid for and received your marca da bollo, keep it safe and wait for someone at the local authority where you have to make the application to stick it onto your application documents for you. Do not try and do this yourself as you could stick it in the wrong position.

With the amount of paperwork required when moving to and living in Italy, you’ll soon be so familiar with the obligatory marca da bollo (and your local tabaccheria) that you’ll barely give it a second thought.

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For members

TOURISM

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Inflation may now be falling but the price of a summer holiday in Italy has risen again - by up to 20 percent compared to last year.

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Italian consumer rights groups said last year that the summer of 2023 would be remembered as “the most expensive ever” for travel. But 2024 has already smashed that record, according to the latest price surveys.

The rising cost of air fares, ferry tickets, hotels, restaurants and beach clubs add up to mean a holiday in Italy will be 15-20 percent more expensive this summer compared to last year, according to a survey conducted by the Assoutenti consumer research centre in June.

While price rises in recent years have been attributed to Covid and rising inflation, which is no longer thought to be a factor, this year Assoutenti said high demand was pushing up prices amid the post-pandemic tourism boom.

Prices in Italy were “out of control as a consequence of the resumption of tourism, after the stop imposed by Covid, and the record number of foreign visitors recorded in the last year,” the survey’s authors wrote, calling on the government to take measures to contain price increases.

READ ALSO: ltaly set for summer tourism boom as bookings increase again

They warned that more Italian families were likely to “give up the summer holidays this year, not being able to face an expense that increases from year to year,” and that those who do travel may book shorter trips to keep costs down.

Some 6.5 million Italians say they won’t be going on holiday this summer at all, with half citing economic difficulties, according to a separate survey commissioned by price comparison website Facile.it.

Meanwhile, there had been a nine percent increase this year in applications for personal loans for travel purposes, the survey found.

Flight prices

One of the biggest factors was the cost of air fares, as both domestic and international flights to and from Italy were found to be more expensive again this year.

While the cost of flights between European countries had fallen slightly following inflation-driven price hikes in 2023, Italy was bucking the trend.

Italy’s flight costs had risen instead, according to recent analysis in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, with the average price of a summer flight between Italy and the rest of Europe up by seven percent and domestic flights by 21 percent.

READ ALSO: Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

Industry sources suggest the price increase is again down to unprecedented demand, while consumer groups say the main culprit is a lack of competition on the Italian market.

Transport costs

There were price hikes too for those using other modes of transport, with the rising cost of fuel and motorway tolls in Italy named as another contributing factor in the Assoutenti survey.

Ferry tickets were also more expensive, it found, with the average increase this August at +6.3 percent compared to 2023.

Hotels and B&Bs

For a family of four, the Assoutenti survey found the most expensive place to stay in Italy this summer was Porto Cervo, Sardinia, where the average price of a week’s three-star accommodation in August came to 3,500 euros.

The cheapest options were found to be Bibione, outside Venice (872 euros) and Rapallo in Liguria (909).

READ ALSO: Tourist tax: How much is it increasing in Italy’s cities this year?

The cost of accommodation at coastal destinations had risen by 23 percent on average overall, a separate survey by consumer group Altroconsumo found.

Hotels in cities were found to be a less expensive option, with most Italian families heading for the beach or mountains to escape the heat.

Restaurants

Adding to the overall cost, prices also continued to rise this year at restaurants in holiday resorts and at beach clubs: Assoutenti recorded an average increase for the catering sector of +3.5 percent on 2023.

Beaches

Renting sunbeds and umbrellas at Italy’s beach clubs is seen as a necessity by many Italian families – and often by international visitors too, given the lack of free options in many areas.

This too was becoming more expensive in 2024, with the average daily rate for a slot at one of Italy’s private beach clubs up by more than five percent on last year. Prices had also risen by as much as 11 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Beachgoers can now expect to pay around €30-35 for two sun loungers and a beach umbrella for the day on average, though prices can rise as high as €90 in Salento and €120 in parts of Sardinia.

Both private and free-access beaches in Italy also increasingly require advance booking due to higher demand.

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