Visitor Levy: Information for businesses

The levy will

• apply for stays on or after 24 July 2026. This will apply only for pre-bookings made (and paid for in part or in full) on or after 1 October 2025.
• only apply for the first five consecutive nights’ stay.

In Edinburgh 2% of levy funds collected will be reimbursed to accommodation providers. This is intended to cover some of the direct costs which will occur as a result of collecting the levy, such as credit card charges and amendments to accounting systems.

You can read Edinburgh-specific information for accommodation providers in our guide (published 18 August 2025). This document is intended to aid businesses in understanding their responsibilities under Edinburgh’s Visitor Levy scheme. It will be kept up to date with developments in the run up to 24 July 2026. Please note that this document is not accessible. If you need help with this, please email the team.

VisitScotland guidance

You can find a list of frequently asked questions on the VisitScotland website. This includes questions on

• how the visitor levy will be calculated
• the payment process for the visitor levy
• the levy’s interaction with VAT
• how to tell visitors about the levy
• how the levy will impact pre-bookings or cancellations.

Read the VisitScotland guidance on the visitor levy for local authorities (PDF) which details best practice guidelines. This guidance is primarily for local authorities implementing a visitor levy, but contains information which may also be useful for businesses.

Improvement Service platform

visitorlevy.scot is a new visitor levy online collection platform being developed by the Improvement Service to support the introduction of visitor levy schemes across Scotland.

The platform is for the reporting on, and collection of, the levy from the liable person (the accommodation provider) to the Local Authority. It is not intended for accommodation providers to use for charging the levy from the visitors.

The platform will be available in Spring 2026, which allows accommodation providers 6 months to familiarise themselves before the first levy returns are due in October 2026. The information that accommodation providers will be asked for when using the platform is publicly available in the Edinburgh-specific information document.

Training will be available to accommodation providers on how to use the platform. This training will focus on use of the platform only, and will not cover how to calculate the levy. Details of how to calculate the levy are available in our information for accommodation providers document and the VisitScotland guidance and FAQs.