New accommodation tax establishment and increase spread… Beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and beyond
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 10th, there are about 30 Japanese local governments planning to introduce new lodging taxes within this year. Considering that there were 17 local governments implementing lodging taxes as of the end of last year, this is almost doubling in one year. Of these, 26 have already enacted ordinances and received approval from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
First, Miyagi Prefecture and Sendai City will begin imposing lodging taxes on the 13th. If you stay at a hotel in Sendai, you must pay an additional 300 yen (approximately 2,770 won) per person per night, including 100 yen in Miyagi Prefecture tax and 200 yen in Sendai city tax. Starting in April, Hokkaido will introduce an accommodation tax of up to 500 yen (about 4,620 won), and 13 local governments in the province, including Sapporo City, will also impose a separate accommodation tax. Hiroshima Prefecture and Kanagawa Prefecture will also begin taxation in the same month, and Nagano Prefecture and Karuizawa Town will also begin taxation in June.
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In areas that have already introduced lodging taxes, the increase is steeper. Starting in March, Kyoto City will raise the upper limit on accommodation tax tenfold from the current maximum of 1,000 yen per night to 10,000 yen. If you stay at a luxury hotel that costs more than 100,000 yen per night, you must pay an additional 10,000 yen (approximately 92,500 won) in lodging tax. Kutchan-cho, a ski resort area in Hokkaido, will increase the tax rate on accommodation fees from 2% to 3% starting in April. Tokyo also plans to switch from the current 100 to 200 yen flat rate system to a flat rate system that charges 3% of the accommodation fee. If the fixed rate system is applied, the accommodation tax for a room priced at 50,000 yen per night will increase by more than seven times from the existing 200 yen to 1,500 yen.
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It’s still okay because the yen is still at an all-time low.
It seems like a slight change to the strong yen would have a bigger impact.