People holidaying in the UK could be made to pay an extra up to £12 per night ”tourist tax’, according to reports. MailOnline says Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering the move in a bid to help close the Government’s Budget black hole.
The Treasury is reported to be exploring the move, which would see similar charges applied to staying on a UK campsite, caravan park or in a hotel as for staying at some resorts in Spain and France. The models are reported to start at £1 per person for night for a campsite and rise to £15 per person per nigt for an expensive hotel.
The tourist tax would be paid by foreign guests to the UK and UK holidaymakers taking a staycation alike. Wales is already looking at a visitor levy – which would be applied at different rates by different local authorities.
Some cities are also looking at their own tourist taxes, with Edinburgh loking to introduce a fee from 2026. The authority will add a 5% levy to accomodation to bring in £50million a year. If the UK-wide model is introduced it could raise more than £1billion a year for the UK Government, according to calculations by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
UK holidaymkers travelling to some foreighn destinations already pay a tourist tax.
A Treasury spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on tax speculation outside of fiscal events.”
The news comes a day after it was reported Rachel Reeves is looking at slashing the Department for Work and Pensions budget with a huge reduction in how much is paid in Personal Independence Payments and other disability benefits.
And it comes as increases in the Government’s borrowing costs have sparked concern that the Chancellor will be unable to meet her debt and spending targets, requiring either tax rises or deeper spending cuts when she delivers a fiscal statement at the end of March.
Planned action is reported to include deeper spending cuts than the 5% efficiency savings already pencilled in for the spending review due to be published later this year, while cuts to the welfare bill are also said to be under consideration.
The Chancellor has previously ruled out further tax rises after hiking taxes by £40 billion at the Budget in October.