A Visitor Levy for Edinburgh
Scotland's plan to introduce a levy
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act was passed in the Scottish Parliament in May 2024. It received Royal Assent in July 2024. The legislation allows councils in Scotland to tax overnight accommodation if they wish to do so.
The Act sets out some requirements for the levy, which include
- the levy must be a percentage of the cost of an overnight stay in some types of overnight accommodation
- before a levy can be introduced, the local authority must consult with local communities, businesses and tourist organisations
- revenue generated by the levy must be used to develop, support or sustain local facilities and services substantially used by business and leisure visitors.
Deciding to have a visitor levy in Edinburgh
On 22 August 2024, members of the Council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee agreed core elements of the draft Visitor Levy scheme. We will ask residents and businesses for their views on the draft scheme between September and December 2024. This consultation results will help us update the scheme. We will take a final Visitor Levy scheme committee in January 2024 to seek councillors' approval.
If approved, the Act says we must have an 18-month implementation period during which we will preparing the scheme to go live. This means the earliest that we could introduce a levy is mid-2026.