A guest pays £450 for accommodation. The platform takes £67.50, leaving £382.50. Which number goes into the levy calculation?
For an ordinary agency booking, our Edinburgh calculation starts with £450, before provider commission. That follows the Council's worked examples. There is a real difference in the wording of the national guidance, though, and it deserves more than a footnote.
Where the two guides differ
Edinburgh's September provider guide distinguishes an agent arranging a booking from a wholesaler buying accommodation to resell. Its agency examples use the guest's accommodation price; a provider's commission expense does not reduce that price. A wholesale transaction uses the amount paid by the wholesaler to the provider.
VisitScotland's August FAQs describe calculations with commission included or excluded, require evidence for the approach, and direct providers to local guidance. They also discuss consistently evidenced agency-fee treatment. Chapter 10 of the national guidance contains the same broad commission wording.
These documents do not read the same way for every business arrangement. This is a guidance question, not a newly announced Edinburgh rate change. If your contract points to a different treatment, obtain clarification for that arrangement before changing a return.
What the difference looks like
This example assumes £450 is the eligible accommodation amount, excluding VAT, all nights are chargeable, and the £67.50 commission is already within that amount. There are no other charges or deductions.
| Working | Commission retained in base | Commission deducted for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation entered | £450.00 | £450.00 |
| Commission deducted | £0.00 | £67.50 |
| Levy base | £450.00 | £382.50 |
| Gross levy at 5% | £22.50 | £19.13 |
The difference is £3.37, after rounding each levy figure to pennies. The second column is a sensitivity calculation, not confirmation that the deduction is appropriate for your booking.
In the free calculator, calculate the stay first, then open Compare a commission deduction. Enter the commission attributable to the eligible accommodation. The comparison does not change the main result. You can download its inputs, assumptions and source references for discussion with your accountant.
Check the fee before comparing
A payout line alone rarely answers the question. Open the booking invoice and the platform's fee statement side by side. Identify the accommodation transaction, who sold it, and what the fee actually covers.
Three details can change your working:
- VAT: compare amounts on the same VAT-exclusive basis. A fee invoice can have a different VAT treatment from the room charge.
- Longer stays: commission for an entire booking is not automatically commission for the chargeable nights. Use the relevant portion and keep the allocation.
- Other charges: a platform deduction may cover cleaning, extras or several bookings. Do not subtract it in full merely because it appears beside the payout.
If the CSV column already contains a net payout, subtracting commission again compounds the error. Keep the original export and correct the accommodation mapping before calculating.
Keep a short decision note
Make the note specific enough that someone else could reproduce the figure a year from now:
- Identify the booking and the contract or platform terms you checked.
- Record the accommodation amount, the fee and any allocation between nights or services.
- Name the guidance version and explain which treatment you used.
- Keep any written clarification with the calculation and the submitted return.
New saved calculations in Visitor Levy Calculator record the engine's commission treatment and a dated source reference. Older calculations are not retrospectively labelled as though they had that record. A manual adjustment needs its own reason; the original engine basis remains visible.
If later clarification changes your position, preserve the filed figures and review the affected bookings before using the amendment workflow. Recalculating a booking does not itself amend a return already submitted to the council.
Preparing the October return? Continue with the first-return checklist.