Turkey has officially published a communiqué on the residence tax, which will come into force on January 1, 2023. However, this document did not answer the main question – in what format this tax will be paid by organized tourists? As long as there are options.
Accommodation tax will be collected in all accommodations
The residence tax in Turkey was adopted in 2019, but its implementation was delayed due to the pandemic. Now the Turkish authorities have decided that the situation in the tourism sector has returned to normal and a new tax is due. Officially, the residence tax will begin to be collected on January 1, 2023.
As follows from the communique of the Turkish Ministry of Finance, all accommodation facilities are subject to the accommodation tax: hotels, motels, holiday villages, boarding houses, apart-hotels, thermal complexes, guest houses, campsites, motorhomes, etc.
According to the document, a 2% tax on accommodation will be levied both on the actual accommodation (overnight stay) and on all other services that are sold together with the overnight service. These are food and drinks (including the concept of “all-inclusive” and “ultra all-inclusive”), entertainment services, use of the pool, thermal complex, and other health services.
The exception is SPA zones and pools on the territory of the thermal hotel in the case of servicing those who do not live (do not spend the night) in the hotel. They won’t pay tax.
How organized tourists will pay tax in Turkey
According to representatives of the Turkish tourism industry and tour operators, the communiqué did not answer the main question – how exactly tourists who come to Turkish resorts on package tours will pay the accommodation tax. There are no clear (and generally any separate) instructions regarding this issue yet.
“So far there is no algorithm for how it will be implemented. We are waiting for clarifications for further work,” the tour operators said.
“At the moment, there is no unequivocal decision on how the new tourist tax will be charged. It is only known that the number of tax deductions of hotels will increase by 2%, while how the accommodation facilities will cover this expense will most likely remain their decision,” the tour operators commented.
Turkish hotels against new tax
Despite the decision announced by the authorities to launch a residence tax in January 2023, there are still discussions in the Turkish tourism industry about the need for this initiative.
According to hoteliers, the new tax will weaken the competitive position of Turkey, which, unlike European countries, has not yet collected taxes from tourists.
“Representatives of the hotel business are now putting pressure on the state, insisting on postponing the launch of the tax to a later date. Perhaps this pressure will be crowned with success. So far, the situation is such that there is practically no detailed information about the administration of the new tax – neither from hoteliers nor from host companies. Everyone is waiting for comprehensive explanations,” commented representatives of the Turkish DMC operator.