Tourist tax in United Kingdom A complete guide

The UK is introducing tourist accommodation taxes in select areas to support sustainable tourism. If you run a hotel, B&B, or rental, knowing the local rules keeps compliance simple.

Is there a tourist tax in the United Kingdom?

Yes, parts of the UK have a tourist accommodation tax, and the system differs across the four nations. In Scotland, councils apply visitor levies to overnight stays. In England, two cities collect a nightly charge through local schemes, and the government confirmed a national levy framework in September 2026. In Wales the rates are set nationally and each council decides whether to apply them, while Northern Ireland currently imposes no tourist accommodation tax.

Wherever a levy applies, UK law requires it to sit inside the total price a guest sees upfront. Read more about this here: tourist tax and the CMA pricing rules.

Tourist tax in England

England has no national tourist tax yet. In September 2026 the government confirmed a discretionary Overnight Visitor Levy for strategic authorities, with the law expected this Parliamentary session. Manchester and Liverpool already charge guests a nightly "city visitor" fee through their Accommodation BIDs.

About tourist tax in England

Tourist tax in Scotland

Scotland has approved a visitor levy that councils can choose to apply. Trippz helps hosts and platforms follow the local rules without the paperwork.

Tourist tax in Scotland

Tourist tax in Wales

Wales is preparing for the introduction of a visitor levy. With Trippz, you’ll always have the latest updates and an easy way to stay compliant.

About Visitor Levy in Wales

Tourist tax in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has no visitor levy and no local accommodation charge.

Read more about tourist tax in Northern Ireland

Tourist tax and the CMA pricing rules

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has confirmed that drip pricing is unlawful under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. A travel business can no longer show a low headline price and reveal mandatory charges later in the booking journey. Every fee a customer cannot avoid belongs in the total price shown upfront, and that duty sits with the platform selling the booking as well as the business behind it.

Tourist tax is one of the clearest examples of such a charge, because it applies automatically at the destination and the guest cannot decline it. The CMA's guidance names local charges and taxes as normally calculable and expects them inside the total price shown to the customer, rather than at a later step. For UK stays that covers the Scottish visitor levy, the city visitor charges in Manchester and Liverpool, and the Welsh levy once councils adopt it.

Enforcement is already underway. In April 2026 the CMA fined the AA's driving schools £4.2 million and ordered refunds of more than £760,000 to over 80,000 customers, over a mandatory £3 booking fee that appeared later in the purchase journey. Our post the CMA's pricing rules for travel: what has to be in the total price sets out the full requirement, including who carries the liability and where enforcement stands.

Trippz: the authority on tourist tax

Tourist tax is set locally and rates change without warning. Trippz tracks every change and keeps the data current, which is why travel platforms and property software, including Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia, rely on Trippz to calculate tourist tax and register guests in every market they serve.

How Trippz stays current

Trippz checks tax rules jurisdiction by jurisdiction against official municipal and national sources. When a rate or rule changes, the update happens automatically rather than on a periodic review cycle. This is the same monitoring that travel platforms and software vendors depend on to stay accurate everywhere they operate.

One tax engine, every market

Send a location, get the applicable rate, instantly and correctly calculated. Travel platforms and property software embed this calculation directly into their own product, so every booking is taxed correctly without building or maintaining a rate engine in house. It is the same logic behind every rate on this page.

Explore Trippz for Platforms

Frequently asked questions about Trippz

• How can platforms and software vendors use Trippz?

  Trippz provides tourist tax content and a ready made calculation engine through one API. Platforms and software vendors add accurate tax calculation to their product without maintaining a rate database in house. Guest registration and authority connections are available as a separate capability for those who need it.

• How does Trippz keep tourist tax rates current?

  Trippz checks the jurisdictions it covers against official sources and updates rates automatically when a city or country changes them.

  
  

• Which countries and cities does Trippz cover?

  Trippz maintains tourist tax data across a wide range of countries and cities. See the full overview in our tourist tax guides.

• Is Trippz's data and infrastructure secure?

  Yes. Trippz is SOC1 Type 2 and SOC2 Type 2 certified and GDPR compliant, so platforms and software vendors can embed tourist tax calculation without adding security or compliance risk of their own.

• Who uses Trippz for tourist tax?

  Trippz provides tourist tax data and calculation to travel platforms and property software across Europe, including Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia. The same infrastructure that powers stays booked through the biggest platforms in travel is available to any platform or software vendor through the API.