Holidays in your own country

Tourism in Germany had to overcome difficult times during the corona pandemic. The operators of accommodation establishments as well as private holiday home and flat providers are therefore now looking closely at the money. The cities and municipalities, some of which make money from holiday rentals by levying visitor's tax or bed tax, are doing the same. The Federal Constitutional Court has now ruled that the bed tax is constitutional.

Many terms mean the same thing: tourism contribution, tourism tax, spa contribution, spa tax, business tourism tax, tourism contribution, overnight stay tax, bed tax, culture and tourism tax or city tax - the municipalities are inventive.

Whatever the tax is called - all revenues from it have the same purpose. They are intended to compensate for the additional expenses incurred by the municipality or city as a result of the tourists. The money is primarily used to finance the maintenance of the local tourist infrastructure. This includes parks, paths, public toilets as well as the cleaning and maintenance of tourist facilities that are supposed to contribute to the attractiveness of the place.

Non-residents usually pay the tax per head and overnight stay directly to the hotel, the holiday landlord or landlady. Travellers on business have so far been exempt from the tax. On the German islands, for example, the visitor's tax is between two and four euros per day and guest, which is quite significant for larger families and longer stays.

The Federal Constitutional Court has now rejected four constitutional complaints from Hamburg, Bremen and Freiburg im Breisgau. It ruled that the taxes are compatible with the Basic Law. They do not place an excessive burden on the accommodation establishments concerned, which have to collect the levies. Overnight stays for business purposes can be exempted from the expense tax, but do not have to be. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) and the German Hotel Association (IHA) fear that the municipalities could still expand the tax after this ruling.

(Photo: © Monika Schröder, Pixabay)