The Edinburgh city tax is a 5% visitor levy on paid overnight accommodation, starting with stays that begin on or after 24 July 2026. It applies to the first five consecutive nights of any stay and is calculated on the room cost before VAT. Edinburgh is the first Scottish council to launch a scheme under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, which gave every local authority the power to introduce this kind of charge.1Legislation.gov.uk. Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024
When You Will Actually Pay It
The start date is 24 July 2026, but whether you owe the levy depends on when you booked. If you reserved and paid (in full or in part) before 1 October 2025, your stay is exempt even if it falls after the July 2026 start. Any booking made on or after 1 October 2025 for a stay beginning on or after 24 July 2026 is liable.2The City of Edinburgh Council. Edinburgh Visitor Levy Scheme – Information for Accommodation Providers
If you locked in a festival room months in advance, check the confirmation date on your booking against that 1 October 2025 cutoff before assuming the charge applies.
Which Stays Are Covered
The levy applies broadly. It covers hotels, bed and breakfasts, guest houses, hostels, self-catering apartments, aparthotels, holiday lets, short-term lets on platforms like Airbnb, student accommodation let to visitors, boats or vehicles that stay largely in one place, and caravan and camp sites.3Forever Edinburgh. Visitor Levy for Edinburgh If you’re sleeping somewhere in Edinburgh and paying for it, the charge almost certainly applies.
Cruise passengers are one gap. People sleeping aboard a docked ship are not currently covered. The council has said it supports a separate cruise passenger levy and estimates it could raise over £1 million a year, but that would need additional legislative powers the council does not yet have.
How the 5% Is Calculated
The rate is 5% of your accommodation cost, worked out before VAT is added. Extras like parking, meals, drinks, and transport are excluded.4The City of Edinburgh Council. About the Edinburgh Visitor Levy
Cleaning fees are part of the base amount. If a short-term let charges £100 per night plus a £50 cleaning fee, the 5% is calculated on the full accommodation cost, cleaning fee included. Where the provider is VAT-registered, the levy is worked out on the pre-VAT price and then 20% VAT is applied on top of the levy itself.
The charge stops after five consecutive nights. Book a ten-night stay and you pay the 5% only on nights one through five. Nights six through ten carry no levy.2The City of Edinburgh Council. Edinburgh Visitor Levy Scheme – Information for Accommodation Providers
A worked example: a room at £200 per night before VAT generates £10 per night in levy. Over five nights that’s £50 in total. A sixth or seventh night doesn’t add to it.
Who Is Exempt
The exemptions are narrower than most travelers assume. The Act is designed so that the levy only applies to paid overnight stays away from the visitor’s home, which automatically places people without a permanent or safe home outside its scope. That covers those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, people in severely overcrowded or unsafe housing, and anyone fleeing domestic abuse or other violence.5The City of Edinburgh Council. Visitor Levy – Information for Visitors and Exemptions
Recipients of certain disability-related benefits are also exempt:
- Disability Living Allowance
- Disability Assistance
- Attendance Allowance
- Pension Age Disability Benefit
- Personal Independence Payment
If you receive one of these benefits, anyone staying with you in the same accommodation is exempt too. A companion who books a separate room pays the levy on that booking.5The City of Edinburgh Council. Visitor Levy – Information for Visitors and Exemptions
A common misreading: business travelers, students, and government workers are not exempt. The council has been explicit that every paid overnight stay is liable, whatever the reason for the trip. UK and Scottish residents pay on the same terms as international visitors.
How You Pay
Your accommodation provider collects the charge. Under the Act, the provider is the “liable person” who must charge you the levy and remit it to the council. That remains true when you book through a third-party platform such as Airbnb or Booking.com, unless the platform has a formal agreement with the council to pay directly.1Legislation.gov.uk. Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024
Timing varies. Some providers collect at booking, others at check-out. Under UK price transparency rules, the final price shown on a booking platform must already include the levy, so a host should never ask for more money on top of what you’ve already paid to cover it. The levy must appear as a separate line on your receipt or invoice; providers cannot bundle it into the general room rate.6VisitScotland. Scotland’s Visitor Levy
Where the Money Goes
The Act requires levy revenue to be reinvested locally in facilities and services used substantially by visitors. Edinburgh has committed a first spending package the council values at over £90 million across three years.7The City of Edinburgh Council. Council Agrees First Round of Edinburgh Visitor Levy Spend Allocations include cobblestone street renewal (£3.85 million), new and upgraded public toilets (£3 million), restoration of Leith Theatre (£5 million), work on the Old Royal High School as a national music centre (£3 million), a new Market Street arts hub (£2.75 million), coastal improvements at Cramond and Portobello, a new city centre policing unit with Police Scotland backed by £850,000 in expanded CCTV, an affordable housing fund projected to help deliver 472 homes, and expanded park ranger and planting programmes. A further £2 million funds participatory budgeting, letting residents and community groups vote on how a share of the revenue is spent.