How UK’s new tourist taxes pose challenges to booking platforms

New visitor levies raise one question for platforms: how to manage them

Tourist tax in the UK is no longer just a policy debate. Scotland has passed a law, Wales is preparing its own, and cities in England are already charging visitors through other schemes. The direction is clear: visitor levies are coming, But unfortunately not in a single, unified way.

Take Aberdeen for example. The city’s decision to set a 7 percent levy, amongst the highest in Europe, shows the determination of local governments to raise extra revenue through taxation of tourism.

For platforms, the bigger issue is not the tax itself (as the tax itself needs to be paid by the visitor) but the practical challenge of organising compliance across very different rules.

The compliance headache for platforms

Each city adds another layer of work. Platforms must:

• Show the right amount at checkout (5 percent capped in Edinburgh, 7 percent in Aberdeen, £2 in Liverpool)
• Apply guest specific rules (for example, different age exemptions by city)
• File payments through different systems (Scotland’s portal, English BIDs, future Welsh process)

Guests expect to pay the right tax. Hosts expect it to be collected and paid. If either fails, the platform takes the blame. Building a solution for every city will not work, as it is not a scalable approach.

Aberdeen’s 7 percent: a high rate, lots of responsibility

In August 2025, Aberdeen City Council voted to apply a 7 percent levy. It could raise about £6.8 million a year, which the council says will be invested in the visitor economy. From a government view this is understandable, as it creates revenue for events, promotion, and infrastructure without raising local taxes. However, setting a rate first of all, and secondly a comparatively steep one, also comes with a lot of responsibility for the city council (to spend the funds well).

Traditionally, the industry is against introducing these sorts of levies. Business associations warn it could harm competitiveness. Hospitality organisations say costs will rise and clear guidance is still missing. From our experience though, these arguments are always brought up but lack empirical evidence. No single destination has been able to show that a tourist tax in fact hurt its local tourism economy.

For platforms, the key point is not who is right. It is that councils are ready to set rates. That means having to onboard additional (financial) obligations to calculate, remit, and report, with little to no margin for error.

The wider UK picture: three models in play

Aberdeen is only one piece of the puzzle. Across the UK, tourist tax is advancing in very different forms.

• Scotland is rolling out a percentage based system. Councils design the rate, and a national portal will be used for filings
• Wales is preparing a new law that will give councils the power to set their own visitor levies
• England has no tourist tax law. Instead, some cities use Accommodation Business Improvement Districts (ABIDs). Hotels in these areas add a fixed fee, usually £1 or £2 per night per room. The money goes to a fund that supports tourism promotion.

For platforms, this means three compliance models within one country. With different formulas, different filing systems and different timelines. Maintaining a consistent compliance flow under these conditions is close to impossible without automation.

Trippz: one model, every market

This is where Trippz comes in. Platforms do not need three different systems for three different models. We turn scattered rules into one consistent compliance process:

Always up to date through API

We maintain every rule and rate, and the LocationTax API keeps platforms updated in real time. No need to monitor legislative changes or coding emergency solutions.

One structure for every tax

Trippz absorbs all the complexity that jurisdictions might introduce on their own. Our unified data model converts these differences into a single, unified data feed for platforms.

Filing and payment handled

We connect to the systems that cities use. Platforms do not need to build separate processes for remitting tax.

With Trippz, the question “how will you manage this?” has a clear answer: one model to cover every market.

The choice is clear: prepare now or fall behind

Aberdeen’s levy may make headlines, but the bigger story is the spread of tourist taxes in different forms across the UK (and beyond). Platforms that wait risk being caught out by last minute changes, engineering chaos and potentially even penalties.

The better option is to prepare now. With Trippz, platforms do not need to build different systems for every city or region. We simplify the rules, bring everything into one model, and make compliance manageable.

Visitor levies are here. Complexity is increasing. Trippz makes it simple.