{"id":638841,"date":"2026-09-28T20:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/638841\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:06:09","slug":"tourist-tax-could-raise-more-than-e200m-for-local-authorities-research-shows-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/638841\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourist tax could raise more than \u20ac200m for local authorities, research shows \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A nightly tourist tax of \u20ac5 per person could raise more than \u20ac200 million for local authorities, according to new research from the University of Galway<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Such a levy would benefit the 31 local authorities to varying degrees, with Dublin City Council<\/a> projected to be the largest beneficiary with a tax take of \u20ac46 million.<\/p>\n

A \u20ac5 nightly tax would translate into \u20ac5.7 million for Waterford City and County Council<\/a>, and \u20ac8.2 million for Galway County Council<\/a>, the policy document suggests. <\/p>\n

Visitor levies \u2013 or tourist taxes \u2013 charged by local councils on overnight paid accommodation are common in EU<\/a> countries and in parts of the UK.<\/p>\n

No such scheme has been rolled out in the Republic but the 2024 Dublin City Taskforce and the 2026 Local Democracy Taskforce have recommended a levy on overnight stays.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Death of Ireland\u2019s nightlife is yet another reason for young people to leaveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The hospitality sector has opposed taxing tourists, arguing it could make Ireland a less attractive place to visit.<\/p>\n

The research suggests a visitor levy would meet two objectives set out in the programme for government \u2013 to broaden the tax base and strengthen local democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cActual revenues will depend on the base\/coverage, the tax rate, exemptions and caps, and could raise an estimated \u20ac220 million per annum for the local authorities,\u201d according to the research.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Tourist tax of up to \u20ac5 per night considered for Dublin cityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It was carried out by Gerard Turley and Stephen McNena from the JE Cairnes School of Business & Economics at University of Galway. Data from F\u00e1ilte Ireland registers was used, which contained 225,098 bed spaces as of January. That number excludes unregistered B&Bs, short-term lets and on-campus student accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on a fixed tax rate per person per night, we estimate that each \u20ac1 of a visitor accommodation levy would generate \u20ac44 million per annum for the local authorities,\u201d Turley said. <\/p>\n

\u201cA \u20ac5 tax rate per person per night would generate almost \u20ac220 million for the local government sector. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor hotels only, our estimates show that a \u20ac1 tax rate per person per night would generate the same revenue, circa \u20ac33 million, as a 1 per cent room-tax rate per night based on 2025\/26 data for the number of hotel rooms, occupancy rates and the average daily rate,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

McNena said the research shows revenues \u201cwill depend on the categories of accommodation providers covered in the legislation, as well as the tax rates levied and any exemptions or caps\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the choice of tax rate is a percentage rate or a fixed rate, to be applied per person or per room.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs both approaches have advantages, we recommend that local authorities have the discretion to choose a percentage rate or fixed rate at a level that is appropriate to the local circumstances, the strength of the local tourist sector and the uniqueness of the destination.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A nightly tourist tax of \u20ac5 per person could raise more than \u20ac200 million for local authorities, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[15148,61,60,43,6306,5761],"class_list":["post-638841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-failte-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-tourism","tag-university-of-galway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}