Brussels is going to increase the tax tourist pay per night of accommodation by €1 to make up for lost revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Brussels Capital Region is made up of 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels. Currently, tourists staying at hotels pay a tourist tax of €4 per night, while those staying at “domestic” accommodations such as bed and breakfasts, short term rentals or campsites pay a €3 tax per night. At the moment, there are slight differences between the municipalities, as each of them also adds its own fee on top of the regional one, although the variations are only a matter of cents.
Under the new rules, which were submitted through a draft ordinance by the region’s Finance Minister Sven Gatz, the tax will increase by €1 across all categories except camping. Thus, the fee for staying at hotels becomes €5 per night, €4 per night at bed and breakfasts and short term rentals and still €3 per night at campsites. Moreover, the additional municipal fees will be cancelled, evening out the tax across the entire region.
The City of Brussels alone is expected to gain an extra €5 million in revenue annually from the increase, while the entire region should receive at least €26.8 million from the tax on hotels, according to the Brussels Times. Currently, the City of Brussels gets €19.1 million annually from the tourism tax.
The main reason for the tax increase is that the additional income is meant to compensate for the revenue lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the city tax was suspended. Temporarily unemployed people also received rent subsidies and businesses received bonuses to help them stay afloat. Moreover, the energy crisis and inflation mean that regional operations are now more costly anyways.
