Cruise ship levy: consultation

6. Administration and Compliance

Any cruise ship levy would bring administration costs for the body or bodies that were required to administer it, including around collection and remittance. The Scottish Government’s objective would be to seek to minimise administration costs, and we will further develop our understanding of the compliance costs as we continue work on the BRIA. It is possible that administration costs for any cruise ship levy could be recouped from the levy payment itself, either in full or up to a limit.

There appears to be limited available evidence from international examples regarding the administrative costs of operating cruise ship levies. The Scottish Government is not aware of evidence that specifically states that administrative costs for cruise ship levies in other parts of the world are being recouped via the levies themselves. However, there are several examples where the funds from the levies are either wholly or at least partially allocated to the organisations directly involved in managing and administering the levy. In the case of the Bahamas, the Passenger Tax Amendment dictates that the passenger tax be charged, levied, collected and paid into the Tourism Development fund that is managed by the state’s Tourism Development Corporation (Parliament of the Bahamas, 2023). Another example is in Barcelona where legislation states that 50% of all collected funds from the levy and their separate visitor levy are allocated to the city’s destination marketing organisation, Turism de Barcelona, who are one of the groups responsible for overseeing the management of the funds (Ajuntament de Barcelona Direcció de Turisme, 2017).

Whatever body is required to administer a cruise ship levy the relevant local authority will need to have appropriate powers to investigate, and if necessary, apply sanctions as part of any legal framework for a cruise ship levy. Other local taxes, such as Council Tax and the Visitor Levy, include provision for:

• penalties for delayed or non‑payment;
• powers to require certain information related to a levy to be provided to the local authority;
• applying a fine related to non or late payment of a tax.

We would expect similar powers would be necessary in relation to a cruise ship levy (if local authorities were to be given the power to introduce one), for them to use in situations where it is necessary.

Question 6: What enforcement powers should a local authority, or other relevant body, have to ensure compliance (and prevent avoidance and evasion) by those required to pay a cruise ship levy? Please select all of the powers you think the body should have.

• powers to request, and obtain or inspect, the information necessary to assess the cruise ship levy liability of a body;
• power to apply a penalty (e.g. a fine) if a cruise ship levy is not paid when it is required to be;
• power to apply a penalty (e.g. a fine) if a body provides inaccurate information in relation to a cruise ship levy, or destroys requested information.