LONDON: Founded by the Romans as a thermal spa, Bath, best known for its Georgian architecture, may soon impose tourist tax in addition to the basic room rate and VAT for the overnight visitors.
The Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency Charles Gerrish said that the local authority is considering the introduction of a “tourist bed tax”, to be paid by all those staying in a hotel or b&b, to help offset the £37m of cuts it is facing over the next five years.
“We’re looking at options for generating additional revenue,” he added.
While several major European cities, including Venice, Florence, Paris, Berlin and Barcelona, charge a hotel tax, the rate of VAT paid on accommodation is far lower in those countries than in the UK. Any tourist tax would exist on top of VAT, which currently adds 20 per cent to the cost of a UK hotel stay. The VAT rate on accommodation in Spain, Italy and France, for example, is 10 per cent; in Germany it is seven per cent.
In the past, several councils in Britain have considered imposing a tourist tax but no council currently imposes it. In an ongoing saga, Edinburgh proposed one in 2011, scrapped the idea in 2014, but last year said its introduction was once again likely to go ahead. A tax of between £1 and £4 per night, depending on the season, could raise £15m in annual revenue, ministers said last February.
In 2015, Camden council said it was considering the introduction of a £1 per person per night “bed tax”, which it claimed would raise around £5m a year. The funds would be used for extra-street cleaning in popular tourist areas such as Camden Lock, it added.
