Perth and Kinross Opens Consultation on Tourist Tax

Perth and Kinross Council has opened a public consultation on whether to introduce a visitor levy on overnight accommodation, including short-term rentals, under the powers granted by the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024. The consultation is live now and asks residents, businesses and operators for views on whether a levy should be charged at all and, if so, how it might work locally. No rate or start date has been set. This is a first step, not a decision.

What the 2024 Act actually allows

Scotland's Visitor Levy Act lets individual local authorities add a percentage charge on overnight stays, collected by accommodation providers and passed to the council. It does not impose a national tax; each council must run its own consultation, design its own scheme and give at least 18 months' notice before any charge takes effect. Edinburgh moved first, confirming a 5% levy on overnight stays that is due to begin in July 2026, applying to hotels, guesthouses and short-term rentals alike. Perth and Kinross is now testing the same ground, and its consultation will shape whether it follows Edinburgh's rate or sets its own.

What this means for hosts right now

Nothing changes on invoices yet, but the clock on public input is running. Property managers and hosts operating in Perth, Pitlochry, Blairgowrie and the wider council area have a direct stake in how any future levy is structured: whether it applies per night or per stay, whether there is a cap on the number of nights charged, and whether short-term rental hosts face the same collection and remittance duties as hotels. Those are exactly the questions the consultation is asking, and operators who want a workable scheme rather than one designed around large hotel groups have a narrow window to make that case before it closes.

Why the rest of Scotland is watching

Perth and Kinross is not acting alone. Glasgow and Highland Council have both been working through their own versions of this process, and the pattern is now familiar: consult, set a rate, then wait out the 18-month implementation runway before collection starts. For operators running listings across several Scottish council areas, that points toward a patchwork of rates and rules rather than one national standard, adding another line to the compliance checklist alongside registration and licensing requirements already in force under Scotland's short-term let scheme.