What Edinburgh hosts must do about the visitor levy
Since 24 July 2026 every paid overnight stay in Edinburgh carries a 5% visitor levy. As the host you're the one legally liable for it, so this is the job, step by step.
Register
Register your business and each property on the national Visitor Levy platform (visitorlevy.scot). Small hosts below the VAT threshold are included.
Charge 5%
Charge it on the accommodation price before VAT, for the first 5 consecutive nights of each booking. Leave out meals, parking and other extras priced separately. Bookings paid for before 1 October 2025 are exempt.
Keep records
Record each booking's dates, nights, accommodation price and levy, and keep the records for 5 years.
File a return every quarter
File within 30 days of the quarter's end and pay by about the 13th of the following month. The first return covers 24 July to 30 September 2026: submit it between 1 and 31 October 2026 and pay by 13 November 2026.
Keep 2%
Edinburgh lets providers keep 2% of the levy they collect to cover the work.
The levy is worked out on the price before VAT. For VAT-registered providers, though, the levy itself counts as turnover and is subject to VAT, so ask your accountant how it should show on your bills.
Who doesn’t pay
People for whom the accommodation is their only or usual home (for example people who are homeless or fleeing domestic abuse), and Gypsy and Traveller sites, are outside the levy. Guests on disability benefits pay it and then claim it back from the council after their stay; the council aims to refund within 5 working days.
Work out a guest's levy with the Edinburgh calculator.