Collect Tourist Tax Directly from Short-Term Rental Platforms in Edinburgh

Background

The City of Edinburgh Council should require rental platforms to collect and remit the tourist tax directly at the time of booking. This would ensure a fair, transparent, and efficient system while relieving small operators of costly obligations.

Additional details

Short-term rental platforms are widely used by visitors to Edinburgh. While the City has introduced a 5% tourist tax, the current system places the responsibility for collection on small family businesses and individual operator.This creates unnecessary administrative burdens, higher costs, and unfair competition. Many small operators cannot afford extra staff or professional accountants to manage tax reporting, while inconsistent compliance risks undermining both fairness and revenue collection