Developing the Visitor Levy
We’ve been considering a visitor levy in Edinburgh for many years. Councillors discussed a visitor levy at a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council in May 2018. Since then, a series of reports have been considered, including
- in October 2018 a report on views from
- our key city stakeholders and partners
- a survey completed by visitors and residents
- in October to December 2018, we carried out a formal consultation with public on a visitor levy for Edinburgh. We reported the findings and set out a position on a levy in February 2019
- a report with a progress update and draft proposals was considered at the Policy and Sustainability Committee on 22 August 2023
- in November 2023 – January 2024, we carried out an informal survey gathering views from residents and visitors. We reported the findings of the informal survey to the Policy and Sustainability Committee in March 2024
- on 22 August 2024, the Policy and Sustainability Committee considered a report on a draft visitor levy scheme.
- a public consultation was carried out between 23 September and 15 December 2024. The results of this consultation can be seen in the report which was taken to the Policy and Sustainability Committee on 17 January 2025.
- this report was referred to a full Council meeting on 24 January 2025, approved and communicated to the Scottish Government.
- the Council formally announced its intention to proceed with a Visitor Levy for Edinburgh on 24 January 2025.
View our news articles on Edinburgh declares Scotland's first visitor levy and an open letter to the Minister for Public Finance.
At the same time, we’ve
- worked with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in the publication of the Transient Visitor Tax report in June 2018
- contributed towards a Parliamentary Committee study in September 2018
- responded to a national conversation on the tourist tax in Scotland which was reported in March 2019
- responded to a Scottish Government consultation on the new legislation for a visitor levy reported in March 2020
- contributed towards the Visitor Levy Expert Group which is producing guidance for local authorities to implement a visitor levy
- engaged consistently with the visitor economy via the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group and directly with businesses.
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act became a law in September 2024. The legislation allows councils in Scotland to tax paid, overnight accommodation. Following years of consultation, the Council has decided to use the powers set out in the Act.
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.