Tourist Taxes and Visitor Levies: The 2026 Reference Table for Holiday-Let Owners
Published on: August 17, 2026
Last verified: 17 August 2026. Municipal rates change annually and mid-year; use this table to know a levy exists and what type it is, then verify the number at source.
Quick answer: Amsterdam charges the highest levy in Europe at 12.5% of the accommodation price. Greece replaced its overnight tax with a Climate Crisis Resilience Levy of 1.50 to 10 euros per room per night, filed monthly to AADE. Edinburgh became the UK's first city with a visitor levy on 24 July 2026, at 5% of the pre-VAT room cost for the first five nights. Norway introduced a national overnight levy of up to 3%. In almost every jurisdiction the tax is charged to the guest but the host is legally responsible for registering, collecting, filing and remitting, and platform collection is inconsistent and often partial.
This is a reference table, not a guide to letting. If you want the licensing rules, registration regimes and yield mechanics, start with our holiday-let licensing and short-term rental pages. What follows is the one thing those pages do not contain: a comparison of what visitors are charged, and what you as the host are legally responsible for.
That second half is the part that gets owners in trouble. In almost every jurisdiction listed here, the tax is levied on the guest but the host is the party liable to register, collect, file and remit. Where a platform collects on your behalf, that arrangement is jurisdiction-specific and frequently partial. Assuming the platform has handled it is the most expensive assumption in short-term letting.
2026 is the biggest single year of new and increased levies on record, driven by overtourism politics. Rates below were current as at the verification date and change frequently.
How to read the table
Levies fall into four structurally different types, and confusing them is where compliance fails:
| Type | How it works | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Per person, per night | Flat fee, often by accommodation category and season, usually capped at a number of nights | Most of Italy, Portugal, France |
| Per room, per night | Flat fee per unit rather than per guest | Greece's climate levy |
| Percentage of room rate | Proportional to what you charge, so it rises with your pricing | Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Scotland, parts of Germany |
| Access or entry fee | Charged to day visitors, not overnight guests, and collected by the municipality directly | Venice, Zaanse Schans |
The percentage-based levies are the ones to watch as an owner. A flat 4 euros is a fixed cost you can absorb; 12.5% of your nightly rate scales with your own pricing power and materially changes what a premium listing can charge inclusive.
Europe
| Jurisdiction | 2026 charge | Basis | Notes for hosts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 12.5% of accommodation price | Percentage of rate | Europe's highest. Roughly 18 to 22 euros a night on a typical room. Applies to all lodging categories. Separate cruise-passenger day charge |
| Netherlands (other) | Municipal toeristenbelasting, varies widely | Mixed | Set per municipality. Zaanse Schans introduced a day-entry fee of 17.50 euros from spring 2026 |
| Greece | 1.50 to 10 euros per room per night by category and season, reported up to 15 euros in top-category hotels at peak | Per room | The Climate Crisis Resilience Levy replaced the old overnight tax from 1 October 2024. Filed monthly to AADE, the Greek tax authority. Penalties from 50% of the unpaid amount. Separate cruise-passenger fee from 24 July 2026 |
| Italy (national framework) | Imposta di soggiorno, set by each comune, typically 1 to 10 euros per person per night | Per person | Municipal. Rome, Florence (1 to 8 euros), Milan (2 to 5 euros, raised ahead of the Winter Olympics), Venice (1 to 5 euros). Usually capped at a number of consecutive nights, with under-age exemptions varying by comune |
| Venice access fee | 5 euros if booked at least four days ahead, 10 euros otherwise | Day-visitor entry | Separate from the overnight tax. Applies across 60 days in 2026, up from 54 in 2025. Overnight guests are exempt but must still pre-register, which is a host-side obligation many owners miss |
| Spain | Regional and municipal, no national scheme | Mixed | Catalonia and the Balearics operate the established regimes. Barcelona's combined charge roughly doubled to around 15 euros a night at the top end. Balearic environmental tax up to about 4 euros in high season with a 50% reduction after the eighth night |
| France | Taxe de sejour plus departmental and regional additions, roughly 1.95 to 15.60 euros per person per night | Per person, by category | Paris introduced increased levies in 2025. Set by commune; rates published annually |
| Portugal | Lisbon 4 euros per person per night, Porto 3 euros, both capped at a number of nights | Per person | Lisbon applies from age 13. Municipal schemes have spread well beyond the two main cities |
| Austria | Vienna moving from 3.2% toward 5% in mid-2026 and 8% in 2027; other Laender 1.50 to 3.50 euros per person | Mixed | Ortstaxe and Tourismusabgabe, filed per Land or municipality, monthly. Under-15s exempt in Vienna, with variation elsewhere |
| Germany | City-dependent. Frankfurt flat 2 euros per night; Hamburg tiered by room price; Berlin percentage-based | Mixed | Bettensteuer or City Tax. Business travel is exempt in several cities on production of evidence, which is a documentation burden on the host |
| Belgium | Brussels 5 euros per room per night from January 2026 | Per room | Municipal |
| Czechia | Prague roughly 2 euros per night, stays up to 60 days | Per person | Long-stay threshold at 60 days |
| Norway | New national overnight levy of up to 3%, first of its kind | Percentage of rate | Introduced 2026; municipalities opt in |
| Scotland (Edinburgh) | 5% of the pre-VAT room cost, first five nights of each stay, from 24 July 2026 | Percentage of rate | The UK's first visitor levy. Stays booked and paid before 1 October 2025 are exempt. Other Scottish councils are following |
| England | None yet | n/a | Government consultation on giving mayors the power to introduce overnight levies. No rates set |
Also worth knowing: coordinated anti-tourism protests spread across more than 40 southern European cities on 15 June 2026. The political direction of travel on these levies is one way, and rates announced for 2027, Vienna at 8% for example, are already published.
Who collects, who files, who is liable
This is the operationally important section, and it is where the penalties are.
The default position across almost all of Europe: the levy is a charge on the guest, and the accommodation provider is the collection agent, legally responsible for registering with the authority, collecting the correct amount, filing returns on the required cycle, and remitting. Liability for errors sits with the host.
Where platforms collect. Booking platforms collect and remit in some jurisdictions under agreements with tax authorities, and not in others. Coverage is inconsistent between platforms in the same city, and often partial: a platform may remit the municipal levy but not a regional one, or collect for bookings made through it while leaving you liable for direct bookings.
Three rules that prevent most problems:
- Verify per platform and per jurisdiction, in writing, at least annually. Do not rely on a general statement that the platform handles tourist tax.
- Direct bookings are almost always your own responsibility, even where the platform collects on its own channel. Owners who take a mix of platform and direct bookings are the most exposed group.
- Register before your first guest, not after your first return. Late registration is a common trigger for reassessment covering prior periods.
Exemptions to configure correctly. Every scheme has them, they vary, and getting them wrong in either direction costs money: children below a stated age (13 in Lisbon, 15 in Vienna, varying across Italy), night caps (Greece, Lisbon, Florence, Edinburgh's five nights), business travel (several German cities), disability, and long-stay thresholds (Prague's 60 days).
Penalties. Greece's tax procedures code sets a minimum of 50% of the unpaid amount. Italian comuni treat the host as a sostituto d'imposta with corresponding liability. Most schemes charge interest from the original due date, so an unnoticed error compounds.
What it means for your yield model
Tourist tax is not a cost to you in the accounting sense, since the guest pays it. It affects you in three other ways, and all three belong in a serious model.
Price sensitivity. In percentage-based jurisdictions, the levy scales with your rate. On a 300 euro a night Amsterdam listing, 12.5% is 37.50 euros a night visible to the guest at checkout. That constrains what the market will bear at the top end more than a flat fee does.
Competitive position. Where a levy is charged per room rather than per person, as in Greece, larger-group accommodation gains an advantage over hotels charging per head. Where a day-visitor access fee applies, as in Venice, overnight guests are exempt, which nudges demand toward staying rather than day-tripping. These are real, if small, positioning effects.
Compliance cost and risk. Monthly filings to a foreign tax authority in a language you may not read is either your time or your agent's fee, and it is a recurring cost. Price it. If you are letting in more than one jurisdiction, price it twice. The rest of the arithmetic sits in net after-tax rental yield by country.
One structural point worth holding onto. These levies are a symptom, not the story. The same political pressure producing them is producing the licensing regimes, registration codes and outright short-let caps covered in our licensing guide and in the cities turning hostile to short lets: Italy's CIN, France's loi Le Meur, Spain's regional registries. A jurisdiction that has just doubled its tourist tax is a jurisdiction where the licensing rules are also likely to tighten. Read the levy as a leading indicator of the regime you will be operating under in three years.
Frequently asked questions
Which city has the highest tourist tax in 2026?
Amsterdam, at 12.5% of the accommodation price, the highest percentage-based levy in Europe. On a nightly-cash basis, top-category accommodation in peak-season Greece and Barcelona's combined charge reach comparable or higher absolute figures.
Is the Venice entry fee a tourist tax?
No, and treating them as the same thing is a common compliance error. Venice's access fee is a day-visitor charge collected by the comune directly and is separate from the overnight imposta di soggiorno. Overnight guests are exempt from the access fee but must still pre-register.
Does my booking platform handle this for me?
Sometimes, partially, and it varies by platform and jurisdiction. Verify it in writing for each platform and each place you let, and assume direct bookings are your own responsibility.
Do I charge tourist tax on children?
Depends entirely on the scheme. Under-13s are exempt in Lisbon, under-15s in Vienna, with varying ages across Italian comuni. Configure the exemption in your booking system rather than handling it manually.
Is tourist tax deductible against my rental income?
It is normally not your income at all, since you collect it as an agent and remit it. It should not appear in your revenue. Owners who record it as income and then cannot explain the discrepancy at filing create their own problem.
Where can I check the current rate?
The comune, municipality or regional tax authority, always. Rates change annually and mid-year, several 2027 increases are already legislated, and secondary sources including this page go stale. Use this table to know a levy exists and what type it is, then verify the number at source.
Keep reading on JanusHermes
Visitor levies are the cheapest early warning system for where short-let regulation goes next. JanusHermes aggregates local agency listings across more than 50 countries in 11 languages, with the local agency's contact details on the listing.
For the rules around the levy, see holiday-let licensing, short-term rental investment and becoming a landlord abroad. For two cities where these levies bite directly, read buying an apartment in Rome and buying an apartment in Paris. On tax treatment of the rent itself, see furnished rental tax regimes and non-resident rental income tax.
This article is general information compiled from the named municipal and national sources. It is not tax or legal advice and creates no advisory relationship. Tourist tax rates, exemptions, filing cycles and platform collection agreements change frequently, including mid-year, and several 2027 increases are already legislated. Verify the current rate and your own filing obligation with the relevant comune, municipality or tax authority, and take local advice where you let in more than one jurisdiction. JanusHermes accepts no liability for actions taken based on this content.
Primary sources: AADE (Greek Independent Authority for Public Revenue) on the Climate Crisis Resilience Levy, in force from 1 October 2024, and the cruise passenger fee from 24 July 2026; Comune di Venezia on the day-visitor access fee and 2026 calendar; Comune di Firenze, Comune di Milano and Roma Capitale on the imposta di soggiorno; Gemeente Amsterdam on toeristenbelasting at 12.5% and the cruise passenger charge; City of Edinburgh Council and the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act, in force 24 July 2026, 5% on the first five nights; Stadt Wien on the Ortstaxe increase schedule; Lisboa on the Taxa Municipal Turistica; Balearic and Catalan regional tourist tax legislation; Norwegian national overnight levy legislation, 2026.
Rates as published; latest available as of August 2026.
