Herrmann: Don’t make overnight stays in Munich even more expensive
Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior and Municipalities, Joachim Herrmann, announced the planned “accommodation tax” of the state capital of Munich: trivial taxes abolished for good reason – do not make overnight stays in Munich even more expensive
Bavaria’s Interior and Municipal Minister Joachim Herrmann The ‘accommodation tax’ planned by the state capital of Munich is now dying out. “In 1979 we abolished ‘minor taxes’ in Bavaria, for good reason, such as the ice cream tax, the amusement tax or the beverage tax,” explained Herrmann, referring to a planned municipal tax system and an improvement in the economic framework in Bavaria. In addition, at the beginning of 2010, the federal legislature lowered the sales tax rate for business rentals of living rooms and bedrooms to seven percent in order to relieve the lodging industry. “The state capital Munich would counteract the relief goals with an overnight stay tax in order to improve its own city coffers,” argued the municipal minister. “In view of the heavy burden caused by the corona pandemic and also in the current energy crisis, that would be a fatal signal. So far, no municipality in Bavaria has levied an overnight tax.” Herrmann fears negative consequences for tourism in particular.
The argumentation of the Bavarian Association of Cities does not convince Herrmann in any way: “The fact that local authorities in other federal states or other European countries levy accommodation taxes is the famous comparison between apples and pears. And the state capital of Munich can already benefit from the above-average price level for overnight stays, for example in the form of sales tax. “The opposite is the case: Especially in high-priced Munich, accommodation taxes would also make offers in the lower and middle price segment more expensive. That would be at the expense of the less solvent guests in particular,” Herrmann pointed out. “Not everyone stays in five-star hotels.”
Herrmann announced that the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, like the state government, would decide on a speedy change in the municipal tax law. If the state capital of Munich applies for the introduction of an accommodation tax before the change comes into force, this will be rejected for legal reasons.