When will Kyoto, Japan collect the “accommodation tax”?

October 19th, "Japan's New Overseas Chinese News" published an article on the 18th stating that with the increase in foreign tourists to Japan, the Kyoto government plans to increase fiscal revenue and increase the construction of tourism supporting facilities. It is expected that the "accommodation tax" will be introduced in October 2018. According to the plan, Kyoto City’s “accommodation tax” will be the highest in Japan.

The excerpt of the article is as follows:

With the increasing number of foreign tourists visiting Japan, in 2016, the number of people staying in Kyoto City also hit a new record last year, reaching 14.15 million. The Kyoto government is thinking about how to increase fiscal revenue to increase the construction of tourism supporting facilities. The “accommodation tax” that has been widely discussed recently is one of the means. Tokyo introduced the "accommodation tax" system as early as 2002, Osaka Prefecture introduced the "accommodation tax" in January this year, and Kyoto City is expected to introduce it in October next year.

Currently, Tokyo and Osaka prefectures only levy fees on tourists whose nightly accommodation fee is more than 10,000 yen (approximately 589 yuan). Tokyo's "accommodation tax" is divided into two brackets, the first bracket is 100 yen (approximately RMB 5.89) for accommodation costs of 10,000 yen to 15,000 yen, and the first bracket is 15,000 yen and above. For the second level, a tax of 200 yen is levied.

The "accommodation tax" implemented by Kyoto City is expected to be divided into three levels. The first level is 200 yen, and tourists with accommodation fees of less than 20,000 yen per night are required to pay. The second level is 500 yen, and tourists need to pay accommodation fees of 20,000 yen to 50,000 yen per night. The third tier is 1,000 yen, which is required for tourists with accommodation fees of more than 50,000 yen. There are two differences between the "accommodation tax" implemented in Kyoto and the "accommodation tax" systems in Tokyo and Osaka: first, all tourists need to pay; second, the tax amount is high.

Once this plan is implemented, Kyoto City's "accommodation tax" will not only become the highest in Japan, but will also be at the forefront of major cities in the world. The "accommodation tax" in Paris only ranges from 109 yen to 580 yen, and in New York it only ranges from 56 yen to 224 yen. The Kyoto City Government stated that it costs more than 10 billion yen every year to repair cultural properties, travel guides, foreign language support, etc., and the "accommodation tax" is expected to provide 4.5 billion yen.

Chinese tourist Guo Hui said that the Japanese government has been taxing tourists very frequently recently. On the one hand, it has to collect "departure tax" and on the other hand, it has to collect "accommodation tax". There is also news that it will be introduced The policy requires tourists to purchase travel insurance when entering the country. If the tax can be effectively used to improve the tourism experience, I believe tourists will understand. However, it may also reduce some people’s enthusiasm for traveling to Japan.