London tourist tax in 2026: is there one and what is planned

London has no tourist tax, city tax or hotel tax today. What exists is a plan for an Overnight Visitor Levy, a charge that mayors in England could add to overnight stays. The government proposed the Overnight Visitor Levy in November 2025, and the King's Speech briefing notes (PDF) of May 2026 announced a Bill to create it.

In September 2026 the government set out how the levy would work. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said then that it "needs to happen sooner rather than later", according to the September 2026 government announcement. On 31 October 2026 the Bill had still not been introduced in Parliament, and the Fiscal Devolution Roadmap published with the Budget on 28 October 2026 says only that it will be introduced shortly.

Until a law is passed and the Mayor decides on a rate, hotels and holiday lets in London have no levy to charge. For everything else about a visit, the London tourist office information points help on arrival.

The planned rules come from the government response to the visitor levy consultation, published on 10 September 2026. They apply only once Parliament passes the law, and the Mayor of London would then decide whether to use the power and at what rate.

A national minimum notice period, proposed in 2025, was dropped. Instead, each mayor has to consult locally and tell businesses the start date in advance.

While the rules are still being written, the guide to things to do in London covers what a stay in the city looks like today, from the Tower of London to the South Bank.

No rate has been set. In September 2026 Sadiq Khan told BBC London that the levy would not go above 5% a night. That is a promise, not a limit in the planned law. If the levy were set at 5%, these stays would pay the following.

Because the levy is a share of the price, a family sharing a room pays the same as a couple in the same room, and a cheaper hotel pays less. Whether the percentage would apply to the price with or without VAT, and how it would work for packages that include breakfast or tickets, is still being worked out with the hotel sector.

Hotel rooms in the UK are charged VAT at the standard rate of 20%, as the VAT guide for hotels and holiday accommodation explains. It is the same rate that applies to most goods and services, as listed in the VAT rates on different goods and services. A room price of £180 including VAT therefore already contains £30.00 of VAT.

Guests who stay more than 28 days in a row in the same hotel pay full VAT only for the first 28 days, after which a reduced value rule lowers the VAT due under the same HMRC guidance.

Under the September 2026 rules, exemptions depend on the type of accommodation, never on the guest. There would be no exemption by age, nationality or reason for the trip.

Any exemption for hostels and campsites would be part of the Mayor's own consultation, so it cannot be known before London publishes its proposal.

Holiday lets would fall inside the levy just like hotels, as short stays let on a commercial basis. The host, not the platform, would be liable, since the government response names the accommodation provider as the party that works out the levy and pays it. How Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo would collect it from guests has not been set.

Today, a London listing that shows taxes on top of the nightly price is showing VAT or the host's own fees, not a London tourist tax.

No start date exists. These steps still have to happen, in this order, before a London hotel could add the levy to a bill.

The London Assembly's Economy, Culture and Skills Committee discussed the levy in July 2026, and its letter to the Mayor of August 2026 (PDF) records that an impact assessment would come before any introduction. The City of London Corporation estimated in January 2026 that a levy could raise £238 million to £352 million a year across London, in its report on an overnight stay levy (PDF).

For trips booked now, the consultation proposed that the levy fall due on the date of arrival rather than the date of booking, but the final rule will be in the Bill. Edinburgh, for comparison, charges its levy on stays from 24 July 2026 booked and paid from 1 October 2025.

Scotland and Wales have their own visitor levy laws, and two English cities add a charge agreed by their hotels. Edinburgh was first, with the Edinburgh visitor levy on stays from 24 July 2026. In Wales the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 lets councils choose a levy, and the Cardiff checklist for accommodation providers sets the first one for stays from 1 April 2027.

The Welsh rates come from the Welsh Revenue Authority guide to levy rates. The Liverpool and Manchester charges are not taxes set by a council: hotels voted for them, as the Liverpool £2 overnight charge announcement and the joint response of the Manchester and Liverpool hotel districts (PDF) explain. For a 7 night stay at £200 a night, a 5% levy would come to £50.00 in Edinburgh, which stops after 5 nights, and £70.00 in London if it used the same rate with no limit on nights.