City of Edinburgh visitor levy

Edinburgh's scheme applies to overnight paid accommodation in the council area, including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, self-catering, hostels and short-term lets, and also caravan and campsite pitches, accommodation in a vehicle or on board a vessel, and any other accommodation let for a paid overnight stay.

The levy is 5% of the accommodation portion of the charge only. Meals and drinks, separately charged parking or laundry, transport and optional extras come out before the percentage is applied — standard cleaning between guests, utilities, WiFi and basic amenities stay in, and the base is the gross price the guest paid, not your payout after commission.

Only the first five consecutive nights of a stay are chargeable. A ten-night stay is charged on five nights.

Charging starts on 24 July 2026. A stay that straddles that date is pro-rated first — nights before it aren't chargeable at all — and the five-night cap is then applied to the nights that remain.

Bookings made before 1 October 2025 are exempt, but only where the booking fixed the exact dates and accommodation, set a fixed price per night, and took a non-refundable payment. An early booking date on its own is not enough — keep your own record of the booking terms.

Returns are quarterly with published calendar dates, not a flat number of days. The first return covers 24 July to 30 September 2026: submit during October 2026, with payment due by 13 November 2026. The Q4 2026 return is submitted in January 2027 with payment due 13 February 2027.

Every quarterly return must declare whether the property was available for paid overnight stays for the whole quarter, part of it, or not at all — including quarters where the levy total is nil.

The council has indicated accommodation providers may retain a 2% administration fee, and has consulted on penalties for late or inaccurate returns. Its own August 2025 guidance describes both as still to be confirmed, so treat the detail as provisional.