In Krakow it may be more expensive. City wants to levy climate tax

When going to many European cities, we have to pay a local tax. Its amount can be constant for the whole city, but often depends on the class of the hotel. This differentiation applies, for example, to Barcelona, ​​beloved by tourists: people living in lower-class facilities pay 4 euros per day, of which 2.25 euros go to the Catalan cashier, and 1.75 euros to the cashier. cities. In five-star hotels, almost 1 euro more. Cruise passengers who spend at least 12 hours in Barcelona must leave €3 at the regional desk and €1.75 at the city desk.

Residence tax: for fresh air and beautiful views

In Poland, local tax (also known as climate tax or climate tax) can only be levied by cities that are characterized by special recreational, climatic, landscape or tourist values. In order for a commune to meet landscape conditions, there must be, among other things, national parks, forests, viewing platforms, museums, historical monuments or monuments. A detailed list of minimum landscape conditions is included in § 3 of the Regulations on the conditions that the city must comply with, where local fees may be charged.

The money paid by tourists can be spent on the development and maintenance of road transport infrastructure, especially since in cities popular with tourists they are used more intensively. In this way, tourists contribute to the maintenance of buses, sewers, streets in the city center …

Krakow wants to introduce a tourist tax

Krakow would like to charge a tourist tax, which cannot be denied tourist values, but the air quality leaves much to be desired.

But the legal machine worked. According to the Krakow-based Gazeta Wyborcza, a change in the rules will help to charge tourists, which will allow the introduction of a tourist tax and charge even in places with polluted air. Krakow sent a proposal to amend the regulation on local taxes and fees to the government back in 2017. It is still under consideration by the Ministry of Finance.

The green light is given by the Minister of Tourism Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, a native of Podhale.

– Politicians of all levels respond positively to the idea of ​​introducing a tourist tax. I hope that the government will take care of this before the elections and that during this period local governments will be able to collect fees from visitors. It would be a solid injection of money, since we are talking about tens of millions of zlotys, adviser Malgorzata Jantos said in an interview with GW.