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The levy will

• apply for stays on or after 24 July 2026. This will apply only for pre-bookings made (and paid for in part or in full) on or after 1 October 2025.
• only apply for the first five consecutive nights’ stay.

In ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ 2% of levy funds collected will be reimbursed to accommodation providers. This is intended to cover some of the direct costs which will occur as a result of collecting the levy, such as credit card charges and amendments to accounting systems.

You can read ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿-specific information for accommodation providers in our guide (published 18 August 2025). This document is intended to aid businesses in understanding their responsibilities under ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿’s Visitor Levy scheme. It will be kept up to date with developments in the run up to 24 July 2026. Please note that this document is not accessible. If you need help with this, please email the team.

VisitScotland guidance

You can find a list of  on the VisitScotland website. This includes questions on

• how the visitor levy will be calculated
• the payment process for the visitor levy
• the levy’s interaction with VAT
• how to tell visitors about the levy
• how the levy will impact pre-bookings or cancellations.

Read the  on the visitor levy for local authorities (PDF) which details best practice guidelines. This guidance is primarily for local authorities implementing a visitor levy, but contains information which may also be useful for businesses.

Improvement Service platform

 developed by the to support the introduction of visitor levy schemes across Scotland.

The platform is for the reporting on, and collection of, the levy from the liable person (the accommodation provider) to the Local Authority. It is not intended for accommodation providers to use for charging the levy from the visitors.

An overview of the details that accommodation providers will be asked for when using the platform is publicly available in the ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿-specific information document.

User guides are available on the platform to help accommodation providers use the service. Guidance on how to calculate the levy is available in our information for accommodation providers document and the VisitScotland guidance and FAQs.