Fierce fees: hostels in popular holiday regions do not charge a tourist tax
Hostels in popular holiday destinations do not charge the tourist tax, which began operating in Russia on January 1. Because of it, the cheapest accommodation options in sought-after tourist locations have increased in price by about 10%. This provokes the hotel business to fade into the shadows, and also increases the competitiveness of private apartments — as a result, shift workers and students will move into residential buildings that are rented illegally. In this regard, the business is asking to cancel the minimum travel tax threshold of 100 rubles, Izvestia found out. Whether it is worth adjusting the mechanism and what the authorities think about it is in the Izvestia article.
Tourist tax in Russia in 2025
Since January 1, 2025, the tourist tax has been in effect in more than 750 municipalities of Russia. Whether to set it and in what amount is up to the local authorities, but within the limits defined at the federal level: the lower threshold is 100 rubles, and the upper one is 1% of the cost of living. By 2029, the top rate is going to be raised to 5%. It is not the travelers themselves who pay the travel tax, but organizations and individuals that provide temporary accommodation services — sanatoriums, recreation centers, campsites and hotels.
The mechanism has only been in effect for a few months, but it is already clear that for some categories of accommodation — in particular, for hostels — even the minimum size is too large. Therefore, business opposed the threshold of 100 rubles — it needs to be abolished, follows from a letter from Opora Russia to Yulia Shvakova, head of the secretariat of the State Council Commission on an Efficient and Competitive Economy (Izvestia has a fragment of the document with the main proposals).
The secretariat of the commission told the editorial board that proposals for further adjustment of tax legislation, including on tour tax, will be considered at the meeting.
The average cost of staying in a hostel does not exceed 1 thousand rubles, however, due to the tourist tax, the fiscal burden of such accommodation options has become incomparable with the cost of the services they provide, the letter from Opora Russia emphasizes. Hostel owners have to pay a fee of 100 rubles, which is about 10% of the accommodation fee. As a result, the cost of living increases significantly for the most vulnerable group of the population — people who have limited means or prefer to save money. And this can ultimately only reduce the popularity of domestic tourism.
The need to adjust the lower limit and abolish the minimum threshold of 100 rubles last year, before the start of the travel tax, was also discussed in the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT). Izvestia sent a request to the organization, as well as to the Association of Tour Operators.
Why have hostels increased in price
With the introduction of the tourist tax, hostels began to include the amount of the fee in the cost of daily accommodation. The guests of this type of hotel — workers, business travelers and students — began to look for cheaper temporary accommodation, for example, illegally renting apartments or apartments from local residents, follows from the letter of the Russian Support. As a result, the flow of people will be accommodated in residential buildings, which may disturb the tranquility of local residents.
Moreover, there are risks that some of the hostels will be completely liquidated, and the hotel business in the lower price segment will decline, the letter adds. All this can eventually lead to a shortage of funds in the budget. In total, as estimated on the market, the tourist tax can bring 18 billion rubles to the treasury annually. It is assumed that the local authorities will be able to use these funds for the development of tourist infrastructure.
Owners of inexpensive hostels are especially afraid of losing their customers, unlike owners of expensive hotels, whose visitors are willing to pay for comfort, said Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global. According to her, each region needs a separate approach in this case.
The rise in the cost of hostels in general accelerates inflation in Russia, which already exceeded 10% in March (year on year), independent expert Andrey Barkhota added. But the main thing is that it is the lowest-income strata that are most affected by the turnout tax.
Will the authorities change the tourist tax
The press service of the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia that municipalities can determine the rate themselves within the acceptable range, and this gives them sufficient freedom of action. Local authorities can also set benefits depending on the season and the category of tourist accommodation. This is necessary precisely so that the climatic and socio-economic characteristics of municipalities can be taken into account when taxation.
The editorial board sent a request to the Federal Tax Service about whether it is necessary to change the mechanism, as well as to the regional authorities about the need to abolish the lower tax rate. They promptly responded in St. Petersburg and the Ulyanovsk region, stating only that the introduced fee did not have a negative impact on the tourist flow. The Ministry of Energy of the Rostov region said that it is too early to talk about the need for legislative changes, first it is worth evaluating the effectiveness of the current collection.
On the other hand, despite the tourist tax, the demand for holidays in Russia will continue to grow in the coming years, as so far its rate is generally not the highest, and many destinations abroad remain either closed or unnecessarily expensive for our travelers, Natalia Milchakova added.
In a market economy, prices, including for accommodation, depend to a greater extent not on taxes, but on the demand for relevant services, agrees Sergey Kolchin, Professor of the Department of State and Municipal Finance at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. If there are a lot of inexpensive placements in a region, then there is already high competition between them, and it makes no sense to cancel the minimum bar, because these are the means of earning the region.
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