Businesses ‘disappointed’ by approval of visitor levy
Highland Council has approved the findings of the transient visitor levy consultation charge but businesses are not happy.
The decision was made at a full meeting of the council in Inverness on Monday, with councillors agreeing further work was necessary to properly implement the survey that saw 6,640 responses from residents, businesses and visitors.
The report on the consultation was described as one of the best to have come before the council, with the motion to approve the recommendations garnering 44 votes. There were just four against, with seven abstentions.
The report showed 65 per cent of all respondents, 76 per cent of residents, 52 per cent of visitors and 47 per cent of businesses were in favour of the levy in principle. Business groups have been critical of the implications of the tax, with Federation of Small Businesses’ Highlands and Islands development manager David Richardson calling the news ‘very disappointing’ but ‘not surprising’.
He said: ‘Having led the opposition in the Highlands, we know from our own FSB surveys, and from countless meetings and discussions with members and other business organisations, that the local industry is resolutely opposed to the council taxing its customers, seeing it as damaging to both businesses and their communities.’
Mr Richardson mentioned that businesses would incur costs from collecting the levy and suggested council should reimburse this.
This was echoed by Lochaber Chamber of Commerce CEO Frazer Coupland.
He said: ‘Now that Highland Council must present a business case for how the collection and distribution of the levy will work, further engagement with the industry, business groups and sectoral associations will be vital.’
Lochaber councillor Allan Henderson told the meeting paying a tax to the area is becoming the norm worldwide.
He said: ‘You go to Australia and you pay a tax, even the Australians do. You feel good because you are helping keep the Barrier Reef in a pristine form so other people can enjoy it. That’s what we would be doing with a levy like this: allowing the Highland visitor to contribute to keeping it pristine.’
One of the recommendations was that the levy should be more than just a bed tax.
Councillor Ben Thompson suggested the model works well in cities but will not in smaller communities where people might want to create a ‘micro-business’.
He said: ‘The taxman has a pretty notorious reputation in Highland history. I do not want a council employee to go out spying on crofters who have got a couple of folk camping.’
More than two thirds of respondents wanted to see visitors coming from cruise ships pay the levy, but charges already apply to ships.
The Fort William Marina and Shoreline Company has brought 29 cruise ships to Lochaber since 2016. Company secretary Sarah Kennedy said: ‘We would not wish to have any extra cost for cruise ships coming to Fort William. The Highland Council already gets income from the cruise ships based on their gross tonnage and have earned around £78,000 since we installed the pontoons.’