Why is there a tourist tax on our crew accommodation invoice?

5 nightsthe most Edinburgh's 5% levy charges on any stay

Full stayhow long Glasgow's 5% levy runs, from 25 January 2027

75%of our crew stays ran past five nights (154 of 204)

29 nightsafter which a stay in Poland is exempt from the local fee, from 2027

The invoice for a 12-week crew stay arrives with a line nobody budgeted: a city levy on every night. Accounts payable asks why workers are paying a tourist tax.

The short answer is that tourist taxes are no longer only for tourists. Cities have widened them to cover anyone who pays for a bed, and more are coming in 2027.

Our argument: for crews, the headline rate is the wrong number to watch. What decides the bill is how many nights the levy runs for, and whether it is charged per person or on the price. Those rules differ by city, and long crew stays are where it shows.

Since when do work stays pay tourist tax?

Berlin is the clearest case. Its overnight tax used to exempt work trips. Since 1 April 2024, work stays are taxed too. Since 1 January 2025 the rate is 7.5% of the net room price, and the old exemption for stays of more than 21 days has gone.

Scotland's first levy started in Edinburgh on 24 July 2026. The council says plainly that it covers "people staying for work". Glasgow follows on 25 January 2027, and any booking made since 1 April 2026 for a stay from that date is already liable. A crew booked today for a February start in Glasgow will pay it.

Wales and Poland come next. Cardiff will charge GBP 1.30 per person per night on new bookings for stays from 1 April 2027. In Poland, a law published on 19 October replaces the local fee from 1 January 2027. The old fee applied to stays for tourist, health, leisure or training purposes. The new one applies to anyone given accommodation for at least one night in a town that adopts it, so work stays are included.

Place	Applies to work stays?	How it is charged	Long-stay rule
Berlin	Yes, since 1 April 2024	7.5% of the net room price	21-day exemption removed from 1 January 2025
Edinburgh	Yes, work stays named by the council	5% of the accommodation cost	Charged for a maximum of 5 consecutive nights
Glasgow (from 25 Jan 2027)	Yes, all paid overnight stays	5% of the accommodation cost, net of VAT	No cap: the whole stay
Catalonia, incl. Barcelona	Yes, stays in tourist accommodation	Fixed amount per person per night	Maximum 7 nights per person
Cardiff (from 1 Apr 2027)	Yes, overnight visitor stays	GBP 1.30 per person per night	No cap stated
Poland (from 1 Jan 2027)	Yes, any accommodation, in towns that adopt it	Fixed amount per night set by the council	Stays over 29 consecutive nights exempt

Why does the night cap matter more than the rate?

Because crews stay a long time. Of 204 crew stays in our booking system (cancelled stays excluded), the median was 14 nights. 154 (75%) ran past five nights, 68 (33%) past 29 nights and 32 (16%) past 90.

That means 92% of all the nights our crews spent came after the fifth night of their stay. Under Edinburgh's five-night cap, a levy would touch only 8% of those nights. Under Catalonia's seven-night cap, about 11%. Under Poland's new rule, which exempts stays over 29 nights, 13%. In Glasgow, Aberdeen or Berlin, where there is no cap, it is every night.

Take two identical 90-night crew stays at 5%. In Edinburgh the levy stops after night five. In Glasgow it runs for all 90 nights. Same rate, eighteen times the nights.

Why does headcount matter?

Some levies are charged per person, not per room. Cardiff's is GBP 1.30 per person per night, and Catalonia's is a fixed amount per person. A crew of four sharing one flat pays four times what a single guest would. The median crew in our data was four people (n=62). A percentage levy, like Edinburgh's or Berlin's, follows the price of the flat instead, so a shared house costs the same however many people sleep in it.

Why does it catch bookers out?

The host is the one who must collect and pay the levy, and hosts may either absorb it or pass it on, as the Welsh Government notes. Our own records show how easy it is to miss: the property records for 95 of our stays had a field for tourist tax, and not one had an amount filled in. When nobody asks, nobody writes it down, and the invoice is the first place it appears.

What should bookers do differently?

• Ask if the levy is in the quote and get it as a separate line, so accounts payable can match it.
• Ask how many nights it runs for. On a long stay, a city with a cap and one without can differ by most of the bill.
• Check whether it is per person or a percentage. A per-person levy grows with headcount, not with the size of the flat.
• Book long stays as one stay. In Poland the exemption depends on staying more than 29 consecutive nights, so keep the full stay on record.
• Look at bookings made now for 2027. Glasgow already applies to them, and Cardiff and Poland start in the spring and in January.

Our clients have saved 20-30% by using the correct market for the length of stay. The levy is one more reason to match the booking to the length of the job.

Related: why accounts payable keeps rejecting crew accommodation invoices, the VAT 28-day rule for contractor accommodation and where contractors can stay in Edinburgh for 3 months.

FAQ

Do contractors pay the Edinburgh visitor levy?

Yes. The City of Edinburgh Council says the levy applies to people staying for work. It is 5% of the accommodation cost, charged for a maximum of five consecutive nights.

Is there a tourist tax on business stays in Berlin?

Yes. Since 1 April 2024 work stays are taxed, and since 1 January 2025 the rate is 7.5% of the net room price, with no exemption for stays over 21 days.

Will the Glasgow visitor levy apply to long crew stays?

Yes. From 25 January 2027 Glasgow charges 5% of the accommodation cost, net of VAT, for the whole stay, with no cap on nights. It already applies to bookings made since 1 April 2026.