The Balearic government wants everyone to pay the tourist tax but it may have scored an own goal. It may have forced more people into the so-called “illegal” holiday market which it claims it can´t control. Hoteliers allege that thousands of homes and apartments are rented out illegally every summer, and of course as the properties are “illegal”, would-be customers will not pay the tourist tax. So in fact it could be argued that the government is driving people into the so-called holiday black market. The hoteliers have called for a major crackdown on the so-called “illegal” rental market, which they claim is unfair competition. Holiday home owners have argued that they should be able to do what they please with their properties. Both sides have a point but as yet the Balearic government has failed to solve the problem. The tourist tax is only going to make the problem even more pronounced and complicated. If hoteliers suspect that there has been an increase in the “illegal market” and they have noticed a drop in bookings, well there is going to be a major outcry. The Balearic government did promise to try and resolve the problem of illegal holiday rentals when it first announced the tax. So far, little or nothing has been done. The tourist tax will be introduced on 1 June and I suspect that there will be an outcry from hoteliers unless they bite the bullet and pay the tax themselves this year.
Taxing problem
26/01/2016 00:00
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Dave, you're absolutely right in identifying "private" as the keyword, but if I may ... ? The use of holiday (or tourist or vacation, i.e. any term which implies lettings for tourism purposes) is expressly prohibited under the tourism law unless a property is registered for such a purpose: prohibited in the sense that it cannot be used to promote and advertise a property unless there is the appropriate registration, which will apply to, say, villas, but cannot apply to apartments, as these simply cannot be registered for commercial purposes. Apartments are legally rented out under the tenancy act for short stays but such rentals cannot be publicised with the words cited above and nor can there be any offer of services. (The fact is of course that there are.)
Can someone define for me 1) Legal rental and 2) Illegal rental? Forget about the word 'holiday' its a red herring. Local businesses should be supporting the 'private' rental market and opposing the legal and illegal 'all inclusive'.
The only solution is pay at point of entry to Mallorca with exemptions for residents. Simples!