Tourist chiefs call out Edinburgh on 'unworkable' levy
In a letter to the leader of City of Edinburgh Council, Jane Meagher, and all council members, a range of groups representing the Scottish tourism industry warn that the timeline for implementing the new levy 'remains unworkable at present'.
'The current roll-out timeline for business required to apply the levy places unnecessary and avoidable strain on the sector,' the letter states. 'With less than three months remaining before accommodation providers must begin displaying levy-inclusive pricing, there is still no practical or technical guidance from the council or VisitScotland, despite assurances this would be received like the guidance that was published for local authorities back in October 2024.
'While the levy may appear simple, its application is complex - particularly given the intricacies of accommodation pricing and booking systems. These challenges have been clearly communicated to the Scottish Government, VisitScotland, and the council and are at the heart of why guidance is imperative ahead of implementation. With no guidance, there can be no successful implementation. We urge the council to recognise the serious risk this lack of guidance poses - especially as [[Edinburgh]] leads the way as the first to charge a levy in Scotland.'
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The industry's frustration over the lack of guidance is the latest in a series of concerns business groups have highlighted over the operation of tourism taxes in Scotland.
In May, nearly 80 groups representing thousands of tourism and hospitality businesses wrote to Minister for Public Finance Ivan McKee to underline their fears about the implementation of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act.
In the letter, business chiefs stated that the legislation as it stands will place the burden for collecting the tax on companies already under pressure from protracted cost inflation, and warned that operating the levy could tip many small operators over the value-added tax (VAT) threshold. This could lead to some withdrawing from the accommodation market because it would be financially prohibitive, the letter stated.
Industry groups called for the legislation to be changed to make the system more workable. A proposal was tabled to replace the current model of charging tourists a percentage on the cost of an overnight stay with a fixed fee, and for a digital QR system to be introduced to remove the responsibility of collecting the tax from businesses.
More generally, tourism chiefs have expressed concern that adding a tax to overnight stays in Edinburgh could undermine its competitiveness on the global tourism stage.
The letter to City of [[Edinburgh]] Council, which was signed by bodies such as the Scottish Tourism Alliance, UK Hospitality (Scotland), [[Edinburgh]] Hotels Association, the Association of Scotland's Self Caterers, and the Association of Scotland's Visitor Attractions, adds: 'To be clear, as an industry we are not trying to halt the levy being applied in [[Edinburgh]] by July 24, 2026, but are asking for a realistic timeline for implementation ahead of this date to comply with what is legally required of us.
'This constitutes a new era for how accommodation is priced in Edinburgh and Scotland more broadly, and the levy will likely be with us for many years to come – it's therefore critical that the implementation is handled in a way that ensures long-term functionality and credibility.'
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