Statutory consultation progressing — rates not confirmed. As checked on 12 October 2026, the 9 October Fife Today news summary on StandrewsPages reports that consultation will progress following the 8 October Cabinet meeting. The proposed next step is a 12-week statutory consultation; its opening and closing dates have not been verified. This is not approval to introduce or collect a levy, and does not confirm that the consultation is already open.
The council's meeting and documents listing now includes draft minutes, subject to approval at the next meeting. We could not retrieve their contents for this review, and the council's consultation page still describes the earlier engagement stage. The progression update is therefore attributed to the news reporting. The Courier's 5 October report remains the source for the £2.50 and £5 modelled options. Our Fife council page separates these proposals from approved rules; the operational wording still needs primary-document verification.
Why preparation deserves attention
The Courier reports estimated preparation costs across Fife businesses of £630,000, plus £550,000 a year in continuing administration. These are modelled sector costs, not invoices to individual hosts or savings that any software can guarantee.
A fixed nightly charge may be easy to multiply. The work around it still includes identifying eligible accommodation, handling changed reservations, reconciling guest payments and keeping evidence. A useful preparation plan starts with those jobs, before committing to new systems.
1. Record what you actually sell
Keep a property and unit inventory with a specific accommodation type. Avoid using one broad “caravan” or “campsite” category for different products: the reported Fife option distinguishes static caravans from touring caravans, motorhomes and tent pitches.
Mark that classification as provisional for levy purposes. An exclusion in a proposal is not an approved exemption, and an unlisted accommodation type should remain a question for the council. Do not infer a room, person or whole-property charging basis from a headline nightly amount.
2. Map a reservation from booking to payment
For each booking source, identify where you can obtain the original reservation date, arrival and departure dates, units booked, amendments and cancellations. Retain the source export as well as any cleaned working file.
Record guest charges separately from platform deductions and owner payouts. If an agent manages the property, agree who will review differences and who would be responsible for any eventual council submission. A payout to an owner is not evidence of remittance to a council.
3. Measure the work before buying a solution
Use a representative sample of reservations to time export cleanup, amendment checks and reconciliation. Note tasks that require repeated manual copying and exceptions that still need a person's judgement. This gives you a baseline for assessing software or changes to your existing PMS.
Visitor Levy Calculator's existing import workflow, reconciliation guidance and record-keeping checklist show the kinds of records involved. Fife's proposals cannot currently generate a payable levy or fileable return in the product.
4. Prepare specific consultation questions
If consultation is approved and opens, useful questions for your business include:
- What precisely is the chargeable unit for each accommodation type?
- How would mixed sites, partial refunds and amended stays be treated?
- What evidence would support an exclusion, and how long would records be retained?
- How would any provider allowance be calculated and reported?
- What booking transition rules, reporting fields and implementation support would apply?
Keep a dated copy of the answers and the eventual scheme documents. Do not apply a modelled launch window as a booking cut-off or start collecting either proposed amount as an approved Fife levy.
The practical next step is to organise records and identify questions. Revisit the Fife proposal status and the council's published decision before changing guest charges.