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Does Airbnb pay the Edinburgh visitor levy for me?
No. Airbnb does not pay the Edinburgh visitor levy to the council on your behalf. Airbnb's own help page says the obligation is on the host to collect the levy and pay it to City of Edinburgh Council, and that there are no systems in place for Airbnb to pay it for you. Airbnb offers a custom tax tool that adds the levy to your guests' bills, but you still register on visitorlevy.scot, file the quarterly return and pay the council yourself.
Why doesn't Airbnb pay it, when it collects tourist taxes elsewhere?
In some cities Airbnb has a deal with the local government to collect and pay the tax directly. Edinburgh has no such deal. The council's guidance for accommodation providers (version 2.1, September 2026) says no agreement exists for any booking platform to pay the levy straight to the council, and that the person who provides the accommodation stays responsible even when the guest booked through a platform.
The law behind it, the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, says the same thing: a host can arrange for someone else to collect, file and pay, but that does not change who legally owes it. If the money never reaches the council, the council comes to the host.
What does Airbnb's custom tax tool actually do?
It lets you add the levy to the price your guests pay for bookings in Edinburgh. Airbnb then collects it from the guest and passes it to you with your payout. That solves one job: getting the money off the guest. It does not register you with the council, fill in your return, or pay anyone. You still need to:
- register each property on visitorlevy.scot (free),
- file a return every quarter, with figures for each month,
- pay the council by the payment date, keeping 2% of the levy to cover your admin.
Airbnb says the levy applies to all the fees you charge the guest, such as the nightly price and cleaning fees, and only on the first 5 nights of a stay. The council's guidance agrees that standard cleaning counts even when shown as a separate fee. Whether Airbnb's own guest service fee counts is not settled: the council says it depends on how the booking contract is set up and suggests taking advice if you are unsure.
A worked example: a two-bed flat in Leith
A host lets a two-bed flat in Leith on Airbnb. They are not VAT registered. A couple stays 3 nights in August 2026 at £120 a night, plus a £60 cleaning fee.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| 3 nights at £120 | £360.00 |
| Cleaning fee (counts in Edinburgh) | £60.00 |
| Accommodation total for the levy | £420.00 |
| Levy at 5% | £21.00 |
| Host keeps 2% of the levy | £0.42 |
| Host pays the council | £20.58 |
If the host switched on Airbnb's custom tax tool, the guest paid the £21.00 on top and it arrived with the payout. If not, the host still owes the council £20.58 out of their own earnings. Either way, the stay checked out in August, so it goes in the first return: submit by 30 October 2026, pay by 13 November 2026.
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What if I didn't charge my guests the levy?
You still owe it. The council's guidance says the levy is due once a guest has stayed, whether or not you collected it from them. Many hosts only found out about the levy after their first bookings came in. You can pay it out of your earnings for those stays and switch on the custom tax tool for future bookings. Note the guidance also says the full price including the levy should be clear to the guest when they book, so set the tool up before new bookings arrive rather than asking guests for money afterwards.
Does Booking.com or Vrbo pay it instead?
No. The council's guidance covers every booking platform, not just Airbnb: none of them has an agreement to pay the levy to the council. If you list on more than one site, add up the stays from all of them in the same return.
What to do, step by step
- Register each Edinburgh property on visitorlevy.scot if you haven't yet.
- In Airbnb, set up the custom tax for the Edinburgh visitor levy so new guests pay it at booking.
- Download your Airbnb earnings file for the quarter and sort the stays by check-out date.
- Leave out cancellations and no-shows where the guest never arrived.
- Work out the levy on each stay's first 5 nights, including cleaning, and add up the figures for each month.
- File the return by the deadline, pay the council by the payment date, and keep your records for 5 years.
Work out your tourist tax free
Try any booking in the full calculator, or drop in your Airbnb file to see every quarter's figures.
Work out your tourist tax freeLet Tourist Tax Keeper do the return figures
Upload your Airbnb or Booking.com file and get the monthly figures for every return, ready to copy into visitorlevy.scot, plus a reminder before each deadline. £9 a month, cancel any time, and the £29 Tourist Tax Pack is free inside.
Start Tourist Tax KeeperRelated
- How do I fill in the Edinburgh visitor levy return?
- Free tourist tax calculator
- Tourist Tax Keeper: UK tourist tax calculator and Wales register check
General information, not tax or legal advice. Sources: Airbnb Help Centre, Edinburgh visitor levy; City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Visitor Levy Scheme: information for accommodation providers (version 2.1, September 2026); City of Edinburgh Council, visitor levy information for businesses; Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024. Last checked 2 October 2026. Nero Engine Group Ltd, company 16521432, 66 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NA. Privacy · Terms