Edinburgh takes step towards introducing tourist tax

In a step closer to introducing a tax on tourists city council leaders have approached the office of London Mayor Sadiq Khan in a bid to join forces to persuade Holyrood and Westminster to hand over taxraising powers.

Edinburgh Labour group leader, Cllr Cammy Day said a formal application had been made to Sadiq Kahn’s office to look at any potential for a joint initiative for London and Edinburgh to work together. Council leader, Cllr Adam McVey, said: “With ever-increasing pressure on our budgets and over four million tourists visiting Edinburgh each year, we believe a Transient Visitor Levy could help us towards the cost of maintaining Edinburgh’s cultural offering and infrastructure. We will continue to engage with the industry in Edinburgh and have started working with other local authorities across Scotland to help make the case for the powers we need to take forward this key element of our programme for the city.”