VISITOR TAX SURVEY - Aug/Sept 2023 

The Scottish Parliament are currently seeking views on the TVL Bill - the proposed Visitor Tax legislation - Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill.

The purpose of this survey is for SCOTO to gather views from our network and be able to present a community tourism perspective on what is proposed which can then form part of our evidence which will be the focus of our TVL Gathering on 7 September 2023  [ Sept Gathering ]

Please complete this survey if you are involved in community tourism and/or operating a community tourism enterprise.  Do share the link with any local contacts you have.  Please also suggest - if they haven't already - that they become a SCOTO Networker  [ Become a SCOTO Networker ] to  ensure everyone continues to be involved in this discussion.

We estimate this will take 10-15 minutes of your time to complete.  There are 25 questions in total - which is a lot but many are simple yes/no with the opportunity to leave comments.  The bill is broad ranging and we are therefore seeking your views on various aspects.  For each question we have summarised what is proposed for ease of reference.

Your engagement in this is very much appreciated and will ensure the SCOTO Network has a voice worth listening to.

Many thanks in anticipation
Team SCOTO

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* 1. Please confirm you are happy to take part in this survey and for your input to be collated as part of SCOTO's evidence to be shared with the Scottish Parliament.

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* 2. Please confirm you have looked at the materials available on the Parliament's website - Scottish Parliament Visitor Levy Bill

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* 3. Do you agree with the principle of charging a tourism tax?

The Bill gives local authorities the power to introduce a fee called the Visitor Levy in all or part of their area, should they choose to do so. This fee would be added to the charge for an overnight stay. The Bill would give local authorities the power to decide when and how to impose this fee, following the rules and guidelines outlined in the Bill.

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* 4. Do you agree with the current proposal that the levy is added to any overnight stay - ie added to the bill of anyone* staying overnight in Scotland,  and then collected by the local authority to administer how it is spent.  Please also add any comments.

* the bill does not differentiate between overseas, domestic and business travellers.

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* 5. Do you agree with the types of overnight accommodation included?

The Bill would allow a levy to be added to the “chargeable transaction” which is defined as the purchase of overnight accommodation. In the Bill, "overnight accommodation" means a room or place where visitors stay temporarily. This definition applies to most forms of paid overnight accommodation but does not apply to cruise ships and motorhomes/camper vans.

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* 6. Are there any types of overnight accommodation you would exclude?

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* 7. Impact on accommodation providers - do you agree with this proposal ?

The Bill says that accommodation providers (known as 'liable persons') will need to keep a record of the amount received from a visitor levy. They will need to provide a return to the local authority every quarter that details the amount the provider calculates they owe to the local authority. 

If the accommodation provider fails to provide a return, this can lead to penalties. There's also a penalty if someone doesn't pay the visitor levy within 14 days after being reminded by the local authority. The longer they wait to pay, the higher the penalty becomes. If someone gives false information on purpose, or by mistake and doesn't correct it when they realise an error was made, there can be a penalty. If they hide or destroy a document that they were asked to provide, that can also lead to a penalty. The Bill also says that interest can be added to the penalties, which means the amount they have to pay will increase over time.

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* 8. The rate of the visitor levy will be a percentage of the cost of the accommodation - and the local authority will set this.  Do you agree with this 'percentage' basis for collecting the levy or think there is a better way - please use the comments box 

The Bill lets local authorities set the rate for the Visitor Levy as a percentage of the cost of accommodation. So, if a local authority set the rate at 1% across their area the fee for staying in a hotel that cost £100 a night would be £1 and the fee for staying in a hotel that cost £200 a night would be £2.

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* 9. There is currently no upper limit on the percentage to be applied - do you agree?   Share your views in the comments 

 An upper limit to the percentage rate would be for councils to decide and that it could be different for different purposes or different areas within the local authority area, but not for different types of accommodation

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* 10. Local authorities will be able to decide when and where they charge the levy - do you agree with this approach?

The Bill would let local authorities set different rates for different areas or at different times. For example, they might charge more during special events. But they can't charge different rates based on the type of accommodation, like hotels or guesthouses. They could also apply the Levy in certain parts of the local authority area, but not in others.

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* 11. Do you think the funds raised should be targeted to the area (eg community council area) where the funds were raised and funds can only be spent in the locations where there are accommodation providers to raise the levy?

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* 12. The bill says the money raised should be used to pay for services used by tourists - do you agree ?

The Bill says that the money collected from the Visitor Levy should only be used to develop, support, or sustain services that are substantially for people who visit the area for leisure. This could cover things like improving transport links to an area that is popular with tourists or creating a visitor centre. It could also include paying to promote the area as a tourist destination.

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* 13. From a community tourism perspective - do you think some of the funds should be made available to support community organisations who are now operating visitor services previously run by the public sector - eg public toilets, visitor information points?

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* 14. What specific things (tourism or otherwise) do you think the money should be spent on and why?

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* 15. The bill suggests the decision on what the funds raised are spent on lies with the  Local Authority  - do you agree?

There could be options where an independent body exists or is established for this purpose - decision making (and possibly administering the funds).  Examples are creating a new dedicated panel, using the Community Led Local Development 'boards' (that have replaced the old Leader Local Action Groups), local access/countryside trusts, the area DMO (Destination Marketing/Management Organisation).

If you don't agree with the local authority making the decision, please use the 'other ' field to add suggestions and/or comments - these can be specific for your local authority area, or examples

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* 16. Do you agree with the requirement on Local Authorities to consult on their proposed scheme?

The Bill says that before making or changing a Visitor Levy scheme, the local authority has to carry out a consultation. They would need to share a plan of the proposed scheme and explain what it aims to do. They would also need to talk to and get opinions from people who represent communities, tourist organisations, businesses involved in tourism, and others who might be affected by the scheme.

After the consultation, the local authority has to summarise the opinions they received and decide if they want to go ahead with the scheme.

Local authorities would also need to publish annual reports (with the first coming 18 months after a scheme had been introduced) setting out the amount of money that had been collected, how those funds had been used, and how a scheme has performed against the objectives set out for it. 

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* 17. Which local authority area are you in?

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* 18. Has your local authority already decided to introduce a visitor levy ?

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* 19. As someone involved in community tourism are there any specific comments you would like recorded?

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* 20. Are you a community tourism  accommodation provider?

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* 21. As an accommodation provider what changes will you have to make to your billing and payment systems? (please skip if not applicable)

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* 22. As an accommodation provider do you agree with the cost assumptions in the Financial Memorandum (pages 15-19)  of the Bill - Financial Memorandum link . Please skip if not applicable.

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* 23. At this stage what impact do you think the visitor tax will have in your area and across different parts of Scotland - given that the Bill is likely to result in different councils introducing a visitor levy in different ways or not doing so at all.  For example, this could include any impact (positive or negative) on local authority finances, local accountability and flexibility, businesses, or on numbers of overnight visitors.

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* 24.
Specifically, do you think the Levy will impact on visitor numbers ?

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* 25. Have you already responded to the  CURRENT consultation with the Scottish parliament (closing date mid Sept 2023), or do you intend to?  

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* 26. Anything else you would like to add?

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* 27. To demonstrate the survey has been completed by individual networkers please provide your last name and postcode

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