The “tourist tax” on hotels that start next year will be handed to Edinburgh, Scotland – the first in the United Kingdom.
At the end of January, the City of Edinburg Council decided to move forward with a 5% fee per night at Overnight accommodation inside the city. The tax entered into force on July 24, 2026.
The new tax is “5% of payments on the price of paid, excessive accommodation. The collection will be charged before VAT will not be charged on accessories such as parking, meal, drinks or transportation,” said the website of the City of Edinburg Council .
This fee is not only applied to the hotelsaid the website.
It will also be charged on “confidence apartments, aparthoteli, nights and breakfasts, boardingmen, hostels, students [rentals] – Only when [rented] Visitors and students who are not Edinburgh, vehicles or ships (vessels), who mainly remain in one place, rest/short -term [rentals]And the caravan/camp towns, “said the city website.
Visitors to Edinburg will have to pay a new accommodation tax. (Michael Wolchover/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)
The tax will be limited after the first five consecutive nights, it is listed on the city website.
Although called “tourist tax”, anyone who pays accommodation in Edinburgh, for any reason, will have to pay.
“Anyone staying in paid, overnight accommodation in Edinburgh[s] Let’s pay for a levy, “said the Council website.
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“This includes tourists, people staying at work or visiting the city for other reasons. This includes the inhabitants of the UK and Scott.”
The Council of the City of Edinburg believes that New tax It will collect around £ 50m (about $ 63 million in US dollars) per year.
Tax is expected to raise millions of dollars each year. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Councilwoman Jane Meagher, a city council leader, called a new tax “historic moment for Edinburgh.”
She continued, “the introduction of this revolutionary Levy for visitors means to achieve the opportunity once in a lifetime to invest tens of millions of pounds in improving and maintaining things that make our city such a great place to visit life throughout the year.”
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Meagher praised the tax and said he had “huge support, especially from the locals”.
Not everyone, however, is excited about change.
The tax was criticized by some who say that the city will make less attractive tourists. (Educational Pictures/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Leon Thompson, Executive Director of Scotland in Ukhospitality, expressed his disapproval of new taxes, saying that the city would make less competitive as a Tourist destination.
“Our fundamental concern has always been that this levy will only serve to set visitors in Edinburgh, ultimately reducing their consumption in the wider economy of visitors and distracting future visits,” he said in a statement.
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“Now the job of the Council is wise to use these funds to improve the attraction of capital as destinations for visitors and mitigate the impact of levies on companies.”
