Edinburgh Visitor Levy

Who is affected

Anyone operating overnight accommodation in the Edinburgh council area is in scope from the effective date above: short-term let hosts (including single-property Airbnb/Booking.com hosts), serviced apartments, hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, hostels and campsites. Liability is worked out night by night, so a stay that starts before the effective date and continues past it isn't simply exempt or simply chargeable — the nights before are exempt and the nights on or after are chargeable, within the same booking. It's calculated on the accommodation portion only — platform fees and genuinely optional extras are excluded, but a mandatory cleaning or changeover charge counts as accommodation.

What operators need to do

• Track eligible bookings — record accommodation amount, stay dates, booking date and VAT treatment for every reservation with a check-in in the Edinburgh area.
• Apply the night cap correctly — for stays longer than 5 nights, only a proportion of the accommodation amount is eligible, not the full stay.
• Prepare a quarterly return — Edinburgh's scheme, like others in Scotland, is expected to be filed periodically (typically quarterly). Visitor Levy Calculator prepares this return data; it does not submit it to the council on your behalf — see how it works.