Bed tax on Queenstown Lakes accommodation proposed for visitor levy
Thursday, 28 March 2019
A proposed Queenstown and Wanaka visitor levy would likely be a bed tax on short-term accommodation, and would include providers such as Airbnb.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said a percentage-based levy of between 5 and 10 per cent and collected by central Government was preferred.
He released the details on Thursday ahead of a non-binding referendum to test community support for the local visitor levy.
He hoped the levy would raise between $25 million and $40m each year to be spent on infrastructure.
**READ MORE:
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* Visitor levy scarcely lightens massive QLDC ratepayer burden
* Tourists happy to be taxed $25 when entering New Zealand
* Stewart Island/Rakiura visitors levy to stay at $5**
The referendum will take place on June 5.
If implemented, a levy is likely to be collected from 2021 at the earliest.
The idea of a bed tax has been mooted for many years in the district but many accommodation providers have resisted it.
However, it was recently supported by Airbnb as it fought attempts to regulate short-term accommodation in residential areas.
Boult has long argued a visitor tax is necessary in the district to cover infrastructure costs such as transport.
The region has about 2 million visitors annually, but only 24,000 ratepayers.
He said a targeted levy on short-term accommodation providers was a used in other parts of the world.
The proposed model would complement, but not replace, existing cost-recovery methods such as user charges and targeted rates where these are more efficient devices.
'We want the final model to be as fair as possible on end-users and have minimum effect on accommodation providers with regards to administering the levy,' he said.
If it proceeds the district will be come the first on mainland New Zealand to implement a regional tourist tax.