Does tourist tax carry VAT?

As a rule tourist tax is a pass-through item: you collect it on behalf of the municipality and pass it on one to one. It therefore does not carry the accommodation VAT rate (10 % in Austria, 7 % in Germany). If your booking tool shows the tax with that rate anyway, your quote, confirmation and invoice do not add up — and you are showing VAT you do not actually owe. Always confirm the specifics with your tax adviser.

Are children exempt from tourist tax?

In most municipalities children are exempt up to a certain age — the age limit is set locally and is often 14 or 15 years. A booking tool should therefore let you define the tourist tax per person and night with an age limit, so children are excluded automatically.

Can I just include tourist tax in the nightly rate?

It is convenient but not advisable: the guest cannot see what they are paying for, and the accommodation VAT rate is applied to the tax along with the room rate. Better to show it as a separate line item at its own rate.

Guide · Pricing & tax

Showing tourist tax correctly in a booking — how to avoid costly mistakes

Updated 22 July 2026 · Approx. 6 min read

Tourist tax (also called city tax, visitor's tax or spa tax, in German Ortstaxe or Kurtaxe) is a small amount with great potential for error: many booking tools simply apply the accommodation VAT rate to all price components — and suddenly the tourist tax appears in the quote with 10 % VAT on top. That is not just untidy, it can mean real trouble in an audit and in your bookkeeping. Here is how to do it properly.

Briefly explained: what is tourist tax?

Tourist tax, city tax, visitor's tax, tourism levy — the names differ by country and municipality, the principle is the same: the guest pays a contribution per person and night to the municipality or tourism board. As the host you merely collect it and pass it on. Typical characteristics:

An amount per person and night (e.g. €1.50 to €5, varying strongly by region)
Children are frequently exempt — the age limit is set by the municipality (often 14 or 15 years)
The rate changes occasionally — usually at the turn of the year or the start of a season

The decisive point: tourist tax is not accommodation revenue

For tax purposes tourist tax is usually a pass-through item: you collect it in the name of the municipality and pass it on one to one. That is why the accommodation VAT rate (10 % in Austria, 7 % in Germany) does not apply to it. If your booking tool shows the tourist tax with that rate anyway, your quote, booking confirmation and ultimately your invoice do not add up — and you are declaring VAT that you do not actually owe.

Important: how your individual price components are to be treated for tax (including final cleaning or breakfast) depends on the country, the municipality and your setup. This article does not replace tax advice — clarify the rates once properly with your tax adviser and then store them correctly in your tools.

What a clean breakdown looks like

Example: 4 nights, 2 adults and 1 child (aged 10), €140 per night, final cleaning €90, tourist tax €3 per adult and night (children under 15 exempt) — an Austrian setting with 10 % on accommodation:

Line item	Amount	of which VAT
4 nights × €140	€560.00	10 % (€50.91)
Final cleaning	€90.00	10 % (€8.18)
Tourist tax: 2 people × 4 nights × €3	€24.00	0 % (€0.00)
Total	€674.00	€59.09

The guest sees at a glance what they are paying for, the child is exempt automatically, and the tax is shown correctly per line item. This exact breakdown should appear identically in the booking step, in the confirmation email and on the invoice.

Typical mistakes in practice

One tax rate for everything: the tool only knows one global rate — the tourist tax appears with 10 % or 7 %.
No age limit: children are counted, the guest pays too much — awkward when someone notices.
Tourist tax rolled into the nightly rate: convenient but opaque — and the accommodation VAT is charged on the tax as well.
Quote and invoice differ: the booking tool shows different amounts than the later invoice from your bookkeeping.

Checklist for your booking tool

Can I set the VAT rate per line item (accommodation, cleaning, pets, tourist tax …)?
Can I configure the tourist tax per person and night with an age limit for children?
Is the breakdown shown identically and transparently in the booking step and in the confirmation?
Is the tax shown summed per rate (e.g. “includes 10 %: €59.09, 0 %: €0.00”)?

Tourist tax done right — without spreadsheets and asterisks

In BineBoost you set the VAT rate per line item, the tourist tax is calculated per person and night with an age limit — and guests see the clean breakdown right at booking time. The booking lands automatically in your Smoobu.

Try it free for 7 days See the live demo

No credit card required — the trial ends automatically.

Note: this article is for general information and does not replace tax or legal advice. Rates and exemptions differ by municipality and can change.