Edinburgh- New Tourist Tax from July 2026

Anna Morris, who runs a short-term let in the Newington area of the city, is also concerned it could put people off coming to Edinburgh.

Anna probably hasn't visited NYC or Chicago where hotel taxes, sales taxes and fees are about 25% and people still visit...and complain.

Being very familiar with consumer taxation, I suggest the people of Edinburgh look at the fine print of the legislation. If the funds go into the "general fund", its highly unlikely the promises they make about improving infrastructure will really take place. However, if the tax is specifically earmarked for a specific purpose account, then by law they must use it for its intended purpose.

When Illinois put in a lottery a long time ago politicians said it will help our schools and education. However, the law wasn't written that way and the money went into the general fund and the politicians of Illinois found other things to spend it on and well, guess what, property taxes still continue to be the major source of funding schools.

Fantastic forum, we even have Scottish legal scholars. If they are taxing to reduce tourism but maintain revenue, I don't think 5% will have much impact. If they are taxing to derive income from the value of their asset then maybe it's a great start.

Using powers under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act Argyll and Bute Council (which includes Oban also the Isles of Mull, Iona and Islay) is having a series of public consultation events in February, March and April about introducing a new tourist levy in their area.
The idea is not to discourage tourism but, as Mr E puts it, to derive income from the value of their asset.
As the council puts it -

investment from a visitor levy could benefit local communities and visitors- as many services used by visitors are shared by residents.

Fifteen of the 27 Council areas in Scotland have expressed an interest in a levy.

Not in Scotland, but using local Mayoral Powers, Manchester (in England) has been levying a £1 per night charge on all forms of accommodation for the last two years, but not a whisper on here. It has gone un-noticed.

That levy again is not to discourage tourism, but to derive value from it. The levy goes into the Manchester Abid scheme (Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District). That is collecting £3 million annually to

improve the visitor experience and support future growth of the visitor economy

That includes attracting large scale events, conferences and festivals in the off season, marketing the city (to get more tourism) and improving street cleaning.

And last night the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire (England) took the first steps towards such a levy in that area.

I doubt if it will matter to most people. It's usually swept into total cost and 5% is a relatively low amount. Amsterdam is charging 12% and of course as noted above, some of the lodging taxes in highly-touristed cities in the US are just ridiculous.

If they are taxing to reduce tourism but maintain revenue, I don't think 5% will have much impact.

City of Edinburgh Council has said the levy of 5% will take effect from 24 July 2026 and the revenue raised will be spent on infrastructure improvements.

I think it's pretty clear they are taxing to increase revenue and not to reduce tourism.

For the sake of clarity on the Edinburgh Levy or Tourist Tax it will only apply for the first 5 nights of a stay in the City.
The controlling National Legislation for Scotland is here-https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2024/8/contents
and the details of the specific Edinburgh Scheme are here- https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/visitorlevy

(and note that the citizens of Edinburgh have already been consulted before this was brought into effect, as required by law).

In the state of WA, at least, Lodging Tax (the near equivalent of this) is controlled by RCW 67.28.180 and RCW 67.28.181 - which is much tighter legislation than the Scottish equivalent, and it is interesting month by month in one WA city to see how tightly the fund is controlled. When you see that happening, it is impossible to object.
I have no idea if other states have similar legislation (or cities of over 1.5 million in WA). I know if you stay in a hotel near SEA airport there are about half a dozen different levies which together add almost 50% to the bill.

Where I live, the accommodations tax is 14%. But how else are we supposed to pay the extra police, beach patrol, additional garbage service from Memorial Day to Labor Day, etc. needed when at least half the dwellings on our island are rentals which have way more occupants than do single family dwellings? (The most people we ever have at our house is 7 but some of the rental houses have more bedrooms than that! )Sales taxes are 11% and there is an additional 2% tax on restaurant meals.

As an Edinburgh resident I really support this tax, it is not a huge amount and will offset many of the cost we residents pay to subsidise the tourist industry in the city. A few years ago when we had a strike by refuse collectors during the Edinburgh Festival period of August it quickly became clear how much work is done by the local council to keep the place clean; the main tourist areas of the city were a complete mess (my area on the outskirts of the city was affected only slightly) , never mind all the other additional services it has to provide to cater for tourists, in August alone the population of the city almost doubles and each year it seems to get busier , this has to be paid for by those visiting and not just local council tax payers.
I have made numerous visits to many other cities all over Europe and most if not all charge a tourist tax of around 2 Euros per night for the first 7 nights ,sometimes longer, I really don't mind these taxes as i do realise the cost to the local communities I visit adds extra costs and pressure on them it is only fair that i pay a share of that.

This is something that has been happening in other places for a good number of years. I've paid tourist tax in France and other countries as long as I can remember.

If it is used as planned I have no problems with this at all.

Aren’t hotel rooms already subject to the 20% UK VAT tax? So an additional 5% does make it pretty much similar to NYC as stated above.

Hotel rooms do attract VAT, but that is already in the rate.

So unlike in the US where you see a price of, say, £100, then have to add on sales tax or whatever it may be called you are quoted £100. That is what you pay. When you book somewhere like Travelodge or PI, they will show you in the breakdown what the net rate was and the VAT. But the price quoted is the price you pay.
So no, not like NYC.
And VAT is the same across the UK, rather than varying state by state.
I've just been looking at a hotel at Seatac, and there you pay both lodging tax and tourism tax. That feels like double dipping to me. Interesting that you avoid the tourism tax if you stay in a hotel with less than 60 rooms.

As a tourist, I pay what I need to pay to visit a location. A slightly higher price means that I adjust my budget in some manner, not that I adjust my itinerary. I have no objection to paying a tourist tax.

As a tourist, I pay what I need to pay to visit a location. A slightly
higher price means that I adjust my budget in some manner, not that I
adjust my itinerary. I have no objection to paying a tourist tax.

Ditto. (or if its too expensive for me, I stay away)

Actually it might be considered irresponsible for a government to not maximize the income generated by tourism. Tourism is a commodity owned by the citizens of a community and they should be realizing the full value of that commodity. That could mean a 20% tax, and if that were true, so be it.

I have just returned from Madeira on a walking holiday, there they charge 2 Euros a night tourist tax but have recently introduced a charge for Levada walks , fee is 3 Euros on all the most popular walks( others are free)and there has been quite a bit of talk on travel forums about this , I had injured my foot the day before the start of my trip and was unable to do the walks i wanted to do but the one i did do had a 3 Euros charge. How much revenue this will create i just don't know but it is to go towards the maintenance of these incredible walking paths ,again something i don't mind paying.