A ‘tourist tax’ would benefit Ceredigion if it is introduced by the Welsh Government, a county council finance chief has said.

Addressing a meeting of the council’s Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday, 23 September, Duncan Hall, the council’s Corporate Lead Officer for Finance and Procurement was discussing the potential new Discretionary Visitor Levy.

Plans for the levy are “progressing”, and the plan remains to introduce the legislation within the current government term before 2026, documents produced for the meeting as part of medium term financial targets for the council said.

Draft legislation is expected to be introduced to the Senedd for scrutiny in the autumn of 2024.

The visitor levy would be a self-assessed levy on overnight stays in commercially let visitor accommodation.

The decision whether to charge the visitor levy will remain a matter for the local authority once the enabling legislation has passed, the report said.

Documents said that Ceredigion County Council “will seek to establish its position as to whether or not to charge the levy, once further details are available” and Mr Hall told members that “work has been done” on the issues and that “Ceredigion would benefit financially if a levy comes in.”