Visitor levy guides

Plain answers to what hosts ask, from the councils’ own guidance.

• Paying your first Edinburgh visitor levy: what to checkThe levy for stays from 24 July to 30 September 2026 is due by 13 November 2026, through visitorlevy.scot. Before you pay, check these seven things.
• How to fill in the Edinburgh visitor levy returnEvery quarter, on visitorlevy.scot, within 30 days of the quarter ending: three figures for each month, the property’s availability, then payment 14 days later.
• Does Airbnb pay the visitor levy for me?No. Airbnb can collect the levy from your guests, but you file the return and pay the council yourself.
• The visitor levy on cleaning fees and long staysEdinburgh levies the first five nights of a stay. A cleaning fee charged once per stay is levied in full; a fee charged per night only for the nights levied.
• Glasgow’s visitor levy starts on 25 January 2027Glasgow charges 5% of the accommodation price, before VAT, on every night of the stay, for stays from 25 January 2027 booked on or after 1 April 2026.
• The visitor levy and VATWork the levy out on the price before VAT. If you are VAT-registered, the levy itself also carries 20% VAT.