In more detail
The basics above cover the rate, the cap and the dates. This section goes further: which bookings are caught, how platform bookings and long stays work, what to tell an exempt guest, and what a quarterly return actually involves.
01Visitor Levy start dates: which bookings pay and which don't
The levy is tied to when a stay starts, not when it was booked or when it ends. A stay that began before 24 July 2026 pays no levy, even if the guest was still there on the 25th. A stay that begins on 24 July 2026 or later is in scope.
One transitional rule still matters. The council's guidance for accommodation providers says bookings made, and paid for in part or in full, before 1 October 2025 are outside the levy, even for stays after 24 July 2026. To count, the booking had to have:
- specific dates
- a precise number of rooms
- a stated price per night
The payment also had to be real, linked to that accommodation and non-refundable. A free-cancellation booking with nothing paid up front doesn't qualify.
Why it still matters this year
Most of these early bookings have now been stayed in. A few long-lead bookings can still turn up, such as a family who booked Hogmanay or graduation week well over a year ahead. If you rely on the transitional rule for any booking, keep the evidence. The council asks for records of those bookings to be kept for five years after the stay ends.
A quick test for any booking
- Does the stay start on or after 24 July 2026? If not, no levy.
- Is the home in the City of Edinburgh? Homes in Musselburgh or North Berwick are in East Lothian, so no Edinburgh levy.
- Was it booked and paid, non-refundably, before 1 October 2025, with set dates, rooms and a nightly price? If so, it may be outside the levy.
- Otherwise, the levy applies to the first five nights.
If you let for festivals under a temporary licence or exemption, the same levy rules apply to those stays too. Our page on letting for the Fringe covers the licence side.
02Visitor Levy on Airbnb and Booking.com bookings
Most Edinburgh short lets take the bulk of their bookings through platforms. The council is clear on one point: the accommodation provider stays responsible for the levy, however the guest booked. The platform doesn't take that job off your hands unless it's set up to do so and you've checked.
Commission and the price the levy is based on
The guidance draws a line between the first transaction (what the guest pays to book) and anything that happens after it. Where a platform acts as an agent, there's usually one transaction, and the levy is worked out on that price, commission included. Where a wholesaler buys rooms and sells them on, there are usually two transactions. Most whole-home short lets on Airbnb and Booking.com fall into the first group, but setups vary, so check yours.
What to check in your own setup
- Whether the platform collects the levy for you, or whether you must add it to the guest's price yourself
- Whether cleaning fees are shown separately, and how you treat them
- That the guest's confirmation or invoice shows the levy clearly, so they know what they've paid
- That your booking export gives you the accommodation price per stay, so you can work out the return
If you run your own direct-booking site, you set the price and collect the payment, so the levy is plainly yours to charge and report.
How we handle it
For homes we manage, we add the levy to the guest's price on every channel, record it per booking and file the return. You see it as its own line on your statement. It's one of the reasons owners move to full Airbnb management: one set of numbers across every platform, reconciled each quarter. If you'd rather keep hosting yourself, our tools guide for self-hosts covers the channel managers and accounting tools that make the export easier.
03The five-night cap: long stays, contractors and company bookings
The levy stops after the first five consecutive nights of a stay. For a home that takes longer bookings, that cap makes a real difference to the guest's bill.
Longer stays
A guest staying three weeks pays the levy on five nights, not twenty-one. That keeps Edinburgh competitive for the stays that suit whole homes best: visiting academics, project teams and families between houses. If your home already works well for visiting professionals or contractors, the cap is good news.
Company bookings with changing guests
The council's guidance gives an example of an employer booking one room for a run of nights, with different staff using it. Only the first five nights of that booking attract the levy, whoever is sleeping there. For company accommodation, that means a single long booking with rotating staff pays the levy once, on five nights.
Extensions and split bookings
Guests sometimes extend a stay, or a booking is cancelled and rebooked on different dates. Whether the nights count as one consecutive stay depends on the details. Keep the booking history together, and if you're unsure how to treat it, ask the council's Visitor Levy team before you file.
A worked comparison
| Booking | Nights | Nights charged |
|---|
| Weekend city break | 2 | 2 |
| Fringe run for a performer | 24 | 5 |
| Contractor, Monday to Friday, one booking for four weeks | 28 | 5 |
| Company booking, staff changing weekly | 21 | 5 |
Illustrations only. The levy is 5% of the accommodation price for the nights charged. For a feel of what longer stays could earn in your home, try the earnings calculator.
04Visitor Levy exemptions and what to tell a guest who asks
Some guests don't have to pay the levy, but in most cases they pay it at booking and claim it back from the council afterwards. Hosts don't decide who is exempt and don't refund the levy themselves for these guests. Your job is to point them the right way and give them the paperwork they need.
Who can claim a refund
The council's list covers guests who receive certain disability benefits. These include Personal Independence Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Pension Age Disability Benefit, along with several UK disability and injury benefits and war pensions. People without a permanent safe home, such as those who are homeless or fleeing domestic abuse, and asylum seekers and refugees, are also outside the levy.
How the guest claims
- They apply to the City of Edinburgh Council using its online form
- They can only apply once the stay has ended
- They need their benefit award letter, proof of payment and an invoice showing their name
- The council says it aims to process eligible claims within five working days
That third point is where you come in. Make sure you can send a clear invoice or receipt with the guest's name, the dates, the accommodation price and the levy shown separately.
A reply you can adapt
Hi [name], thanks for asking. The Visitor Levy is collected with your booking, and guests who receive certain disability benefits can claim it back from the City of Edinburgh Council once the stay has ended. We'll send you an invoice with your name and the levy shown on it after check-out, so you have everything you need for the claim.
Our guest message and house manual kit has more replies in the same tone. For homes we manage, our team answers these questions for you, from 9am to midnight. You can always get in touch if a guest's question doesn't fit the usual pattern.
05Filing a quarterly Visitor Levy return as a self-host
If you host yourself, the return is yours to file. It isn't difficult, but it rewards keeping good records as you go rather than piecing them together in November.
Before the first return
- Register on the national service at visitorlevy.scot
- Decide where your booking data will come from: platform exports, a channel manager or your own spreadsheet
- Set up a simple record per stay: guest, dates, nights, accommodation price, nights charged, levy
Each quarter
- Export every stay that started in the quarter
- Check cancellations and refunds. If a booking was cancelled before the stay and you refunded the levy, leave it out. A refund after the guest has stayed doesn't remove the levy
- Note whether the home was fully, partly or not available each month, and what guests paid for the accommodation alone, as the return asks for both
- Total the levy due
- Keep 2% to cover your costs. On £100 of levy, you'd keep £2 and pay £98
- File and pay by the deadline in the table above
Records and penalties
The council expects records to be kept for five years: overnight stays, the chargeable transactions, and payments and receipts. It approved its penalty framework in May 2026, and says it will look at whether a business took reasonable steps and acted with due diligence. Filing on time with tidy records is the simplest way to stay well clear of it.
Where self-hosts tend to slip
- Forgetting the five-night cap and over-charging long stays
- Charging the levy on a home in East Lothian
- Leaving the levy in a refunded booking
- Counting the levy as income in the accounts
For more on running a short let on your own, see our page on hosting it yourself. If you'd like the levy off your list, book a 15-minute call.
For more on the year in Edinburgh short lets, read the Stays In blog, including what an Edinburgh Airbnb earns once the levy and every other cost is taken off.
Rather talk it through?Book a 15-minute call with one of the co-founders, or get a free plan for your home: what it could earn, the licence route and every cost.
