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Swiss tourist tax?

We have just arrived to our Airbnb in Murren, and information left for us in the apt says we must pay a local tourist tax of CHF 5.60 per night. Is this legit? Nothing was ever mentioned to me by the Airbnb host and I don’t see anything in the Rick Steves guidebook about it. There’s also some other paperwork that is all in German. What is all of this and why is there no info anywhere that mentions this?

Posted by
1637 posts

This is common in many countries in Europe.

Posted by
927 posts

All of our accommodations in Switzerland have levied that same tax. It is legit. You may want to contact Airbnb and suggest they update the apartment listing so that future guests do not have the same issue.

Posted by
2047 posts

It's usually called a city tax. I had to pay it in both Munich/Berlin hotels.

Posted by
7956 posts

We had this in Italy. When arriving g at the apartment, they needed our passports for the number. While we used credit cards for most expenses, this is where cash was useful to pay the tax.

Posted by
17 posts

The visitor's tax is legit. We were advised by our host in Mürren prior to arrival and paid the tax at the Sportzentrum. Lots of good information there to maximize your experience in the area.

Posted by
2863 posts

Not only are various visitor/city/tourist taxes legitimate, but most if not all places will want these paid in cash and not via card. This is also legitimate, as they must then pay the tax to the appropriate local authority. If they are paid via credit card then they lose money in the deal as they are paying the credit card company a fee on the full transaction. They are required to pay over the full amount to the taxing authority and cannot deduct their bank charges.

Posted by
2506 posts

It is legit. We also operate an AirBnB and we just include the tax.

The tax collected is used to finance tourist related infrastructure. If you ever wondered why the trails are all so well signposted? Well, that is one of those things the tax pays for.