Latest / STR Unpacked / 5% From Next Friday
Transcript
- Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short-term rental bulletin on the 16th of July. So Europe's tourist tax wave just landed in the UK. So next Friday on the 24th of July, Edinburgh becomes the first city in the UK with a statutory visitor levy, an actual tourist tax enacted by law, 5% on every paid overnight stay. That's hotels, BBs, and of course, shortlets. Also includes self-catering and apart hotels. It is applied to the first five nights of any estate, charged on the accommodation cost before VAT, and even operators below that VAT threshold are liable. You collect it, and the first quarterly payments to the council land this autumn. And it doesn't stop at Edinburgh. Glasgow follows five percent from january twenty twenty seven. And here's the catch. It applies to bookings made since April this year. So if you're taking 2027 bookings in Glasgow right now, then they're already in scope. Aberdeen goes further, 7% from April 2027, and sterling comes in at 3% next summer. After sustained industry pressure, the law was amended in March so councils can choose a simple flat per night fee instead of a percentage. Enbrug is sticking with the 5%, but the door is open for others to do it more simply. So on Tuesday, we cover Vienna. Banks hit some of the operators, taxes hit all of them. That logic is now on British soil. This is a pricing law, not just a tax. The levy has to be in your advertised price. So check your channel manager, rate set up before next Friday. That is your briefing, and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for watching.