I am just reading through this as my local council posted this “proposal” on social media today. It looks like a massive bureacratic nightmare and expensive for local tourism accommodation business owners. A way for local authorities to have total right to oversight of any rented, let, hotel etc accommodation records and charge a daily tax.
Extracts :
consideration will be given to the types of accommodation in scope following
consultation.
• Hotels;
• Bed and breakfasts;
• Guesthouses;
• Hostels and bunkhouses;
• Campsites and caravan parks;
• Self-catering properties (e.g. cottages, apartments, short-term lets);
• Serviced apartments, aparthotels, and holiday lodges;
• Glamping sites such as yurts and pods;
• University halls or student accommodation let commercially during
holidays;
• Religious retreat accommodation where commercially let; and
• Accommodation in a vehicle, or on board a vessel, which is
permanently or predominantly situated in one place.
4.4.2. The government proposes that where a Mayor choses to put a
visitor levy in place it should apply across a range of visit types that make
use of local infrastructure and services. This means a levy would apply
equally to:
• Business travellers: These visits make use of local infrastructure and
exempting business travel would introduce unnecessary complexity
and could undermine the fairness and integrity of a levy;
• Stays for recreational purposes, including holidays, short breaks, and
tourism-related activities: These visits often coincide with peak
demand on local services and amenities, such as transport, waste
management, and public realm maintenance
Such a levy, over here between 5 and 7.5% on the price, has to be paid in a great many cities and also in major European cities yet, in our case, not by the owners but by the visitors.
They are working to a country where nobody goes anywhere more than 5 miles from home (15 minute cities/towns) at least the roads will be quieter, no point in having a car…
Perhaps your ID will only allow you to spend money locally, outside of the area and your cards won’t work.
Welcome to China…
Afraid I don’t see the connection. What does an ID card have to do with having to pay that tax? And what is supposed to have a steering function - an ID card or the tax?
Over here, an ID card is not needed when travelling within the country. And the bed tax has had no impact at all on booking accommodation.
In Canada when the truck drivers protested their debit cards and accounts were frozen, if it hadn’t been for the generosity of the public they would have gone hungry.
My point being, that all governments now have the ability to control the masses through their bank accounts. No need to take arms against them. We are losing our freedoms bit by bit.
ID cards are just another small post in the fence of social life…
You may want to include banks and traders as well. My VISA debit card is frequently not accepted, arbitrarily I should say.
The other day I experienced age discrimination when I wanted to rent a van. Sorry, not for you, Sir.
Scandalous Dachs, how many more taxes are they going to invent…
Inevitably it’s always the customer who ends up paying so it affects the local economy, when that lost customer would be paying so many more taxes on the food and drink they buy, the fuel for their vehicle, and the many other attractions they visit.
It will all have a knock on effect. Of course it won’t affect the people who think these taxes up…Because our taxes keep them in a job.
Is smoking actually allowed in pubs? There was a huge public outcry when such a ban was introduced many years ago expecting the worst to happen. Nothing did. Similar reaction to the bed tax. The same with a tax on kerosene. People just keep travelling.
We have accommodation tax, it was reintroduced in 2011 after being abolished in late 80s, the percentage rate differs all over the country, it’s set by the local council, it depends also on the category of the hotel, B&B, etc.
Tourist tax per night is a very common charge in many countries - certainly it used to be in many states in the US as a simple flat fee per hotel room night. Edinburgh is confirmed as introducing this in June this year. In fact it more common than you might think - see below.
It is probably quite simple to collect. From hotels it is simply an additional line item on your bill. For rentals the booking system will collect it. For years now, Airbnb collects local taxes in many countries. This is mandatory and enforced. The Airbnb system is linked to the countries tax office and linked to the rental owners tax code.
I surprised at the many alarmist comments so far on this thread. It surely is a non-issue and a good way to get tourists to contribute more to the place they visit. This is especially true for house and apartment rentals that have become a problem in some cities. Such a tax addresses the issue of tourists taking advantage of amenities in that city (transport, parks, roads, etc.) but not really contributing to their upkeep or operation.
Anyway - list of tax per country.
Austria: the cost of tourist tax is typically added onto your accommodation bill, and is around 3.2 per cent in Vienna
Belgium: in Brussels tourist tax is around €4, and is added onto your accommodation bill, but it varies from city to city
Bhutan: until September 2027, the Daily Sustainable Development Fee in Bhutan has dropped to around £7.50
Bulgaria tourist tax in Bulgaria varies on destination and hotel standard, but it is usually around £1.30
Caribbean Islands - most of the Caribbean islands charge tourist tax, and the price ranges depending on the island – in St Lucia, for example, it is around $3 to $6, whereas in the Dominican Republic it is higher but usually incorporated into package holidays and airline fees
Croatia: the cost of tourist tax in Croatia depends on the season you are travelling in and where you are staying, but the average is around €1 per adult traveller per day
Czech Republic: in Prague, tourist tax typically costs around CZK 50 per night (around £1.71)
France: here tourist tax is based on the level of accommodation, and ranges from less than one Euro for campsite stays to more than 15 Euros for ‘palace hotel’ stays
Germany: it varies from city to city – in Berlin, the standard tourist tax is 7.5 per cent of the accommodation price
Greece: the price you pay in Greece depends on the standard and size of your accommodation. It recently changed from a generic tourist tax to a more specific ‘climate tax’, making it clearer where travellers’ money is going, costing up to €8 besides other fees incorporated into hotel bills
Hungary: travellers should expect to pay a set fee of just over £2 per person per night for a maximum of six nights in Budapest. The fee does not apply to children aged under 18
Indonesia: as of 2024, travellers have to pay 150,000 rupiah (around £7.60) upon entering Bali
Japan: if you travel to Japan, expect to pay 1,000 yen (about £5.30) in tourist tax; early talks suggest this could increase fivefold in the coming years. Things may vary from city to city, with Kyoto’s tourist tax recently confirmed to rise from around £5 a day to almost £50 a day from March 2026
Malaysia: the cost of tourist tax across Malaysia is roughly £1.70 per night
Portugal: charges tourist tax in many cities and regions, including Lisbon and Porto. The cost can vary slightly between locations and the low and high (summer) seasons
The Netherlands: the amount of tourist tax differs per municipality. Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most expensive places for tourist tax – in 2024, the rate was increased from seven per cent to 12.5 per cent of the accommodation price
Switzerland: the price of tourist tax here varies depending on the destination, and it ranges from about CHF 2 (£1.81) to CHF 7 (£6.34) per person per night
Slovenia: again, the rate changes from destination to destination (it is higher in cities than in more rural areas), but generally the cost is around €3
Spain: several cities in Spain have recently decided to raise the price of tourist tax, and other cities are in discussions about following suit. In Barcelona, the fee is a maximum of €7.50, whereas in the Balearic Islands the fee is between €1 and €4
Actually although it’s great that they banned smoking, the ban had a hugely detrimental effect on pubs. Overnight they started to see a fall in business. That has never recovered.
in the UK there’s no indication that this will go to the running of local services. My council is running a campaign to let them keep 50%. Of course that 50% will just plug their deficit because that’s likely what the government plans to use it for. They give with one hand and take with the other. You know very well how this works in the Uk. It’s an excuse to reduce funding elsewhere.
That spoils the whole idea, does it not? Tourists are usually ok to fork out for a small tax if they know its funding the facilities and services they also benefit from. But would rightly be a bit narked off if it turned out the tax money raised was going straight to central coffers.
