City of Edinburgh Council invites you to fill out the consultation on a Visitor Levy for Edinburgh, which is open until Sunday 15 December.
There are plans to introduce a visitor levy on paid, overnight stays in the city. A draft scheme has been written using feedback from visitors, residents and businesses. Now the Council is seeking views from organisations and individuals to help shape the final version, which will be in place from July 2026.
Exemptions
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act says that people who receive certain UK and Scottish disability benefits are exempt from the levy. As well as feedback on the draft visitor levy scheme in general, the Council would be particularly grateful to receive specific feedback on the proposals to reimburse people who are exempt from the levy – particularly if you work with people with disabilities. An explainer can be found below, and a question on this is included in the online questionnaire.
Proposed Management of Exemptions
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act says that people who receive the UK and Scottish benefits listed below are exempt from the levy. If someone is in receipt of these benefits and another person is staying with them in the same accommodation (e.g. hotel room, short term let, aparthotel), their stay would also be exempt. If these same two people were staying in different rooms in a hotel, the person who does not receive these benefits would have to pay the levy.
- Disability Living Allowance
- Disability Assistance
- Attendance Allowance
- Pension Age Disability Benefit
- Personal Independence Payment
Refunding People Who are Exempt from the Levy
The Council has a specialist team of staff who are trained to assess and process refunds. This team has experience working with people with disabilities. Accommodation providers do not always have this special training.
They want to avoid situations where people who are exempt might have to share sensitive information with someone working at the paid overnight accommodation who isn’t trained to help in this way. This person might also have to make an assessment which they are not comfortable making.
Because of this, if someone is exempt, the visitor levy will be paid upfront and claimed back afterwards. This will be through an online form. People will not have to do this if they are accessing emergency housing through a Council service.
This process means that accommodation providers do not have to collect sensitive information from visitors and share it with the Council. This means there are no GDPR requirements, like a data sharing agreement between the accommodation provider and the Council.
The Council team who would manage the refunds have committed to issuing eligible refunds within 5 working days.
To claim their refund, people who are exempt from the levy will need to send the following information to the Council:
- The name of person in receipt of relevant eligible benefit
- A copy (scan/photo) of relevant benefit award letter
- Proof of payment for overnight accommodation
- The name of the person in receipt of the relevant benefit should be on the receipt/booking
(This will help the Council see that they were a member of the group staying in the accommodation) - Bank details (to enable payment via BACS)
