{"id":605804,"date":"2025-12-01T18:45:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T18:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/605804\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T18:45:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T18:45:19","slug":"new-tourism-tax-powers-welcomed-by-khan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/605804\/","title":{"rendered":"New tourism tax powers welcomed by Khan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in last week\u2019s budget that metro mayors would be able to charge visitors for overnight stays in a move long demanded by the London mayor, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TouristsTourists in the West End and (inset, credit LDRS) Sadiq Khan<\/p>\n

Sir Sadiq Khan has welcomed new powers for an overnight visitor levy which could generate up to \u00a3240million a year for the capital.<\/p>\n

The London mayor has been consistently lobbying ministers<\/a> to grant him and other metro mayors the power to impose a \u201ctourism tax\u201d\u00a0 on people staying in London overnight.<\/p>\n

In 2024, London saw 89 million overnight stays but never had the powers to charge tourists a modest fee, unlike other advanced economies.<\/p>\n

However, the government\u2019s budget last week confirmed a \u201chistoric commitment to fiscal devolution\u201d with a consultation into granting mayors and local leaders the option to introduce a levy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will fund further investment in growth locally, including the visitor economy,\u201d the budget document says.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the mayor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): \u201cGiving mayors the powers to raise a tourist levy is great news for London.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extra funding will directly support London\u2019s economy, and help cement our reputation as a global tourism and business destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also shows what can be done when ministers work closely with mayors to devolve more powers to cities and regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of developing our plans for the levy we will work closely with the hospitality and tourism sectors to ensure it delivers the maximum benefits for London and our brilliant businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier last week, Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: \u201cTourists travel from near and far to visit England\u2019s brilliant cities and regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re giving our mayors powers to harness this and put more money into local priorities, so they can keep driving growth and investing in these communities for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September, a report by the Greater London Authority (GLA) oversight committee said an overnight levy would be a \u201cpromising potential revenue source that could generate revenues to support infrastructure that would benefit both Londoners and tourists alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTourism levies on overnight stays are commonplace in other global cities and London is an outlier in not having one,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n

Committee chair Bassam Mahfouz, a Labour Assembly member, also said it was a \u201cwin-win for London\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is yet to be seen how the levy will work in London, with City Hall yet to present a comprehensive plan.<\/p>\n

Last month the Centre for Cities think tank suggested the mayor could either introduce a percentage rate tax on overnight stays, like New York and Toronto, or copy Japan and impose a flat rate.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the budget, ministers confirmed that they have approved the delivery of the DLR extension to Thamesmead, and that it would be primarily funded by TfL and the GLA.<\/p>\n

Sir Sadiq said: \u201cThis budget has delivered some key changes that will improve the lives of the most vulnerable Londoners. It\u2019s the right decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap and I support the measures that will help Londoners struggling with the cost of living.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased that we have managed to secure some important wins for London. This includes the commitment to extend the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead and new powers to London to raise a tourist levy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will need to examine carefully the details in the budget and discuss with the Treasury the full impact on our capital city.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs mayor, I\u2019ll always stand up for London, irrespective of which party is in government, as we continue to build a fairer, safer and more affordable London for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the mayor\u2019s opponents on the London Assembly claimed the Labour government has turned its back on London. Liberal Democrat group leader Hina Bokhari said: \u201cThis budget does nothing for struggling Londoners. No new investment. No funded transport projects. No serious plan to ease the cost of living crisis hitting Londoners harder than anywhere else. Even the long-trailed DLR extension comes with zero actual funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadiq Khan has failed to get the support we needed for our city. He promised Londoners we would have the winds of a Labour government at our backs, yet he has walked away from this budget empty-handed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative assembly member Neil Garratt added: \u201cDid the Chancellor mention London once in her whole budget speech? An anti-London budget from an anti-London government. And what has the mayor got to say about it? With the highest tax burden in history, the main thing we\u2019ll be getting is the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Hall sources have also confirmed reports, which emerged in the New Statesman<\/a>, that the Chancellor told Khan to \u201cget out\u201d of her office as he tried to negotiate for more funding for the capital.<\/p>\n

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More Information about donations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in last week\u2019s budget that metro mayors would be able to charge visitors for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,1194,26387,393,1234,4884,257,14252,1523,5006,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-605804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-budget","10":"tag-city-hall","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-government","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-sadiq-khan","16":"tag-taxes","17":"tag-tourism","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115645798304528494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}