£10 City Tax on UK hotel booking

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martynh99
martynh99 Posts: 134 Forumite
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edited 2 August 2017 at 2:44PM in UK holidays, days out & entertainments
My wife booked a hotel in August for 2 nights in Great Yarmouth and looking at the email thats come through the price was £114 and then there is a £10 city tax added on.
I've seen this in Spain a few times when visiting areas where tourist taxes are the norm and normally no more than €1 per pp/day but this works out at £2.50 pp/day.

Had a google around and not found anything to say that City / Tourist taxes have made it to shores of blighty as yet.

The booking was made via booking.com

Anybody else seen this / has any info ?

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  • pogofish
    pogofish Posts: 10,852 Forumite
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    IIRC Gt Yarmouth were planning to introduce their own local tourist tax a couple of years back.
  • SnowTiger
    SnowTiger Posts: 4,459 Forumite
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    The Business Improvement District levy, listed here?

    It appears to fund advertising, promotions, events, etc for the Great Yarmouth area.

    Presumably, the room is advertised at a specific rate plus taxes.
  • Castle
    Castle Posts: 4,199 Forumite
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    As Snow Tiger has mentioned, it's The Business Improvement District levy which is paid by businesses based on the rateable value of their properties. So it's actually a business fixed overhead cost, just like business rates or rent.
  • martynh99
    martynh99 Posts: 134 Forumite
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    edited 3 August 2017 at 3:29PM
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    SnowTiger wrote: »
    The Business Improvement District levy, listed here?

    It appears to fund advertising, promotions, events, etc for the Great Yarmouth area.

    Presumably, the room is advertised at a specific rate plus taxes.

    That does appear to be it, having looked myself now on booking.com it is listed as
    Prices are per room Included: £ 10.00 City tax per stay,

    Just seemed excessive at £2.50 pp/pn but now I see it's £10 flat rate per stay whether thats 1 person 1 night or 6 people for a year :rotfl:

    Some hotels seem to list it seperately, others must just include it in the price(assuming they're all subject to the BID levy). Thinking about it though, if they are including it then you'd perhaps be paying 20% VAT on it too ?
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 37,650 Forumite
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    It's just another money-making 'opportunity'.

    How many hotels do you find listing a contribution to their business rates separately?

    How many hotels do you find listing a contribution to their rubbish collection costs separately?

    In which case, why should hotels list this levy separately?

    It is just another business overhead and should be included in their tariffs.
  • JP1978
    JP1978 Posts: 527 Forumite
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    Another money making scheme then by the looks of it. Surely the existing business rates and private council tax etc go towards promoting the area - which in turn brings in more tourists, which in turn brings in more money, more business, more hotels, more residents and more business rates and council tax.....

    Is it not just a double tax?
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,525 Forumite
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    Some businesses vote against Business Improvement Districts, if they lose they still have the extra business rate levy to pay.

    How business raise the extra to pay for it is down to them, a tourist tax seems a sensible way.
  • alan2_2
    alan2_2 Posts: 3 Newbie
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    I saw a "city tax" in a search on booking.com that was £10 on a £20 booking, though I wouldn't know whether it's the same hotel as you saw (I didn't book). To be fair, the total price was made clear, but I suspect it's just a ruse by the hotel to pay less fees to booking.com, as I would guess that the fees are charged as a percentage of the basic price but not including the city tax. It used to be common for ebay sellers to do a similar thing with the P&P until ebay clamped down on it.
  • Castle
    Castle Posts: 4,199 Forumite
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    alan2 wrote: »
    I saw a "city tax" in a search on booking.com that was £10 on a £20 booking, though I wouldn't know whether it's the same hotel as you saw (I didn't book). To be fair, the total price was made clear, but I suspect it's just a ruse by the hotel to pay less fees to booking.com, as I would guess that the fees are charged as a percentage of the basic price but not including the city tax. It used to be common for ebay sellers to do a similar thing with the P&P until ebay clamped down on it.
    It would be interesting to see the VAT invoice because there's no VAT on tax.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,323 Forumite
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    Castle wrote: »
    It would be interesting to see the VAT invoice because there's no VAT on tax.
    Yes there is. You pay VAT on petrol tax, you pay VAT on other excise duties for alcohol etc.
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