A nationwide ban on the introduction of so-called bed taxes by municipalities is expected to be finally voted on in the state parliament in mid-February. “With the change in the municipal tax law, local authorities will no longer be able to introduce an overnight stay tax. With this, we are putting a stop to the plans of the state capital Munich in good time,” said Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) in Munich on Wednesday.
If the state capital applies for the introduction of an overnight stay tax before the change comes into force, Herrmann says it will be rejected for legal reasons. “So far, no municipality in Bavaria has levied an accommodation tax. With the amendment to the municipal tax law, we are making sure that it stays that way,” he emphasized.
The municipal and interior committee of the state parliament had previously approved the draft law to amend the municipal tax law after a hearing of the municipal umbrella organizations and “thus set the course for the ban on an “overnight tax””, as the Ministry of the Interior further announced.
In contrast to experts and municipalities, Herrmann expects negative consequences for tourism as a result of municipal bed taxes. This cannot be expected of the Bavarian accommodation providers after the heavy burden caused by the corona pandemic and the current energy crisis. In 1979, “minor taxes” were deliberately abolished in order to simplify the municipal tax system and to improve the general economic conditions in the Free State.
The trigger for the dispute was the announcement by the state capital of Munich that it was the first Bavarian municipality to demand a five percent accommodation tax from hotels. While the state government on the part of the hotel and catering industry is against it, the city council and the city of Munich are demanding that municipal sovereignty be allowed to decide independently on the relevant taxes. The Federal Constitutional Court had declared the accommodation tax in March to be constitutional.