Tourism tax: discussion document

Footnotes

1. Scottish Government (2015), Scotland’s Economic Strategy. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-strategy/

2. Scottish Government (2018), Economic Action Plan. https://economicactionplan.mygov.scot/

3. ONS (2018) International Passenger Survey 2015-17, VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales (2018) Great Britain Tourism Survey 2015-17.

4. Real terms estimates are presented here in 2017 prices.

5. VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales (2018) Great Britain Day Visitor Survey.

6. Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (2018), Latest Visitor Figures. http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423

7. The Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) is maintained by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and is a database of all registered enterprises operating in the UK i.e. enterprises that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE. It covers 99% of economic activity in the UK. Those excluded are small sole traders or partnerships with no employees and an annual turnover of less than the VAT threshold (£83,000 in 2017).

8. VisitScotland (2018), Scottish Accommodation Occupancy Survey. https://www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot-org/pdf/research-papers-2/occupancy-annual-report-2017.pdf

9. ONS (2018), Business Register and Employment Survey

10. ONS (2018) International Passenger Survey 2015-17; VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales (2018) Great Britain Tourism Survey 2015-17; VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales (2018) Great Britain Day Visitor Survey.

11. Scottish Government Input-Output Tables. https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/Input-Output

12. Please note that when the data set out in Table 6 was collected a number of Local Authorities’ IT systems were not in place to provide information on the transitional relief noted above. The number of properties in receipt of relief therefore is likely to be higher than the number suggested in Table 6.

13. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32006L0112

14. European Commission (2017a), Database of Key Taxes on the EU Tourism Sector, August 2017.

15. Member States’ VAT Rates on Hotel Accommodation are also included in Annex A, for reference.

16. European Commission (2017b), The Impact of Taxes on the Competitiveness of European Tourism, 36.

17. Greece is also scheduled to introduce an occupancy tax in 2018 (ibid, 37).

18. Daley, M (2017), Options for a Tourism Levy for London: A publication for the London Finance Commission, GLA Economics, Working Paper 83, 20-28.

19. Ibid: 16-17.

20. Ibid: 20-28.

21. European Commission (2017b): 37.

22. Ibid: 38

23. Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (2018), Transient Visitor Tax.

24. Daley, M (2017), Options for a Tourism Levy for London: A publication for the London Finance Commission, GLA Economics, Working Paper 83

25. ibid

26. European Commission (2017b)

27. BHA Scotland (2015) Evidence on Tourist Taxes: A Submission to the Commission on Local Tax Reform, Retrieved from http://localtaxcommission.scot/wp-content/uploads/British-Hospitality-Association-Scotland.pdf

28. See, for example, Scottish Tourist Alliance (2018), Scotland’s Tourism Industry: Booming, or on a Downward Spiral?

29. Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (2018), Transient Visitor Tax.

30. European Commission (2017b): 162.

31. Ibid: 36-38.

32. Expenditure on tourism relates to the costs that Local Authorities incur in contributing to tourism within their area. These include: tourism policy, marketing and development; promotional events; and camping and caravanning.

33. Scottish Government, Local Financial Returns (LFR2). Gross expenditure values are in 2017-18 prices, and calculated using HM Treasury’s October 2018 deflators (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp).

34. Scottish Government, Draft Budget 2017-18.

35. European Commission (2017b): 110.

36. European Commission (2017b): 114.

37. For instance, Peng et al (2015) found an average price elasticity of demand of -1.291 for those whose destination was Europe, meaning that a 1 per cent increase in price would lead to a reduction of 1.291 per cent in tourism demand in Europe, on average.

38. Blake, A. and Cortes-Jimenez (2007), The Drivers of Tourism Demand in the UK: A Report for Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

39. Average total room cost is based on peak rates, and includes VAT, and is derived from the Scottish Accommodation Occupancy Survey. The analysis assumes that tax impacts are passed through onto the final consumer.

40. City of Edinburgh Council (2018), Edinburgh Transient Visitor Levy, Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee, 2^nd October 2018. http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/4547/corporate_policy_and_strategy_committee

41. STR (2018), Tourist Tax: A Blessing or a Curse?, 15^th November 2018. http://www.ljresearch.co.uk/tourism-tax-blessing-curse/

42. UK Hospitality (2018), UK Hospitality reveals tourist tax could cost Scotland £175 million, 4^th October 2018. https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/news/news.asp?id=421158&hhSearchTerms=%22Edinburgh+and+Tourist+and+Tax%22

43. European Commission (2017b): 155-163.

44. Additional sources: ETOA Tourist Tax Summary; https://www.etoa.org/events/policy/regulation-and-taxation/tourist-taxes; Berlin.de Information for visitor’s on Berlin’s hotel occupancy tax; https://www.berlin.de/sen/finanzen/steuern/informationen-fuer-steuerzahler-/steuer-abc/information-berlin-hotel-occupancy-tax-150351.en.php; Hamburg Tourismus Introduction of the culture and tourism tax in Hamburg; https://www.hamburg-travel.com/service/culture-and-tourism-tax/