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Wales: the visitor accommodation register (deadline 31 March 2027) and the £1.30 visitor levy

Sergej Sitki · founder of ReceptionGO and host
Published 19 October 2026 · 6 min read

General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your own case with your local council, HMRC or the relevant revenue authority, or an accountant.

Every provider of overnight visitor accommodation in Wales must join the visitor accommodation register run by the Welsh Revenue Authority. It opened on 1 October 2026, is free, and existing providers must register by 31 March 2027. Councils can then charge a visitor levy of £1.30 per person per night, or 75p for campsite pitches and hostel beds. Cardiff starts on 1 April 2027.

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Wales has chosen a two-step approach. First, everyone who provides overnight visitor accommodation joins one national register. Second, each council decides whether to charge a visitor levy, at rates the Senedd has fixed. Both come from the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025, and both are run by the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA), the body that already collects land transaction tax and landfill tax.

Who has to register

You must register if you are the person or organisation responsible for accommodation in Wales that takes overnight bookings of 31 nights or less. That covers:

• holiday lets and holiday cottages, including those on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and agency sites;
• B&Bs, guest houses, inns and hotels;
• hostels, bunkhouses and rooms in a shared house;
• campsites, caravan and holiday parks, glamping pods and shepherd’s huts.

An agent or management company does not become responsible just by managing the bookings — but it can complete the registration on the owner’s behalf. One registration covers all the premises run by the same responsible person.

Key dates

New providers after March 2027 must register when they start offering accommodation, and can do so up to 30 days before. Changes — a new property, more rooms, a closure — must be reported within 30 days.

Registering, step by step

1. Work out who is responsible — usually the owner, or the company that operates the site.
2. Collect the details: trading name, business address, company or charity number if any, and for each property its address, type, availability for bookings, number of rooms or bookable spaces and maximum guests.
3. Register online through the WRA service. You get a registration number.
4. Keep it current. Some update features are still being built during the beta; follow WRA instructions if you need a change before they arrive.

The visitor levy: two rates

Unlike Scotland, where councils charge a percentage, the Welsh levy is a flat amount per person per night. A family of four in a cottage for a week in Cardiff: 4 × 7 × £1.30 = £36.40. A couple on a campsite pitch for three nights: 2 × 3 × 75p = £4.50.

What is outside the levy

• Bookings of 31 nights or more under one contract, consecutive or not.
• Specific accommodation types: care homes, private hospitals, approved premises, asylum accommodation, Gypsy and Traveller sites.
• People who were homeless and placed in accommodation — a refund route applies.

The WRA will publish more guidance on visitor refunds before April 2027.

Returns and payment

The levy is self-assessed: you work out what is due and file a return to the WRA for each accounting period.

• Expect £1,000 a year or less? You may file annually (or choose quarterly).
• Expect more? Quarterly returns.
• Late returns and late payment attract penalties and interest.

Keep records for each booking: dates, number of guests, rate applied and any exemption. A booking that changes — a guest added, a night removed — changes the levy, so the record has to follow the booking, not the original quote.

The register, the levy and your rates bill

Registration also gives councils data for the rules that already decide whether your holiday let pays business rates or council tax. In Wales a self-catering property is only treated as a business for rates if it is available for 252 days and actually let for 182 days a year — otherwise council tax, possibly with a second-homes premium of up to 300%, applies. Our guide to business rates and council tax for holiday lets covers both nations. For Scotland’s percentage-based levies see the Scottish visitor levy guide.