Guide
The Wales visitor levy: what holiday let owners need to do
Wales now has a register for every holiday let, B&B and guest house, and a per-night visitor levy that councils can choose to charge. Even if your council never charges it, you still have to register. Here is what applies, when, and how to keep on top of it.
Published 13 November 2026 · DH Website Services
The short version
- Everyone registers. If you take bookings for overnight stays in Wales, you must register with the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) by 31 March 2027, whether or not your council charges the levy.
- The levy is per person, per night. The higher rate is £1.30, the lower rate is 75p.
- Councils choose. Each council decides whether to charge it. A council can start on 1 April or 1 October, and must give a year's notice.
- Cardiff starts on 1 April 2027. Cardiff Council has confirmed it. Check the Welsh Government's list for other councils.
This guide is a summary. Always check the Welsh Government's guidance for your own situation.
Which rate applies
The higher rate (£1.30) covers hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, self-catering cottages and holiday lets, lodges, chalets, glamping, shepherd's huts, caravan and motorhome pitches, and Airbnb-style rooms.
The lower rate (75p) covers tent pitches, and dormitories or shared rooms in places such as hostels and bunkhouses.
How the levy is worked out
Guests on the booking, times nights, times the rate. A family of four staying seven nights in a cottage is 28 overnight stays. At £1.30 that is £36.40.
Try your own numbers with our free visitor levy calculator.
When it starts to matter
If your property is in a council area that charges the levy, you have to account for it before the start date, on bookings made in advance. In Cardiff, the levy has applied since 28 September 2026 to new bookings for stays from 1 April 2027, including extra nights or guests added to existing bookings.
So if you take bookings months ahead, this already affects what you quote guests now.
The records you have to keep
For every stay: the dates, the number of visitors and the number of nights. That is the basis of your return to the WRA.
Returns and payment
- If you expect to owe £1,000 or less in a year, you file yearly.
- If you expect to owe more than £1,000, you file quarterly.
Returns are filed online with the WRA and paid by bank transfer.
Booking platforms will not do it all for you
Airbnb, Booking.com and other platforms may help you add the levy to bookings, but the guidance is clear that the obligation stays with you. Ask each platform and your booking software how they will show, collect and report it.
Taking direct bookings?
If guests book with you directly, your own booking system has to handle the levy too: show it to the guest, add it to the price and keep the records. If you are getting a direct booking website built, make sure the levy is in the brief from the start.
We build direct booking sites for holiday parks and lets in Wales, with calendar sync to Airbnb and Booking.com. Get in touch or ring 01443 805303.