Until recently, Alberta Finance, Tax and Revenue
Administration (TRA), administered the Hotel
Room Tax Act. The Act provided for the collection
of tax at the rate of five per cent of the purchase
price on accommodation in Alberta, up to, and including,
March 31, 2005. Hotels in Alberta were required
to collect the tax from the purchaser of the accommodation.
The hotels then remitted the tax collected to TRA.
On March
14, 2005, Bill 21 - Hotel Room Tax (Tourism
Levy) Amendment Act, 2005, was introduced,
changing
the name to tourism levy and reducing the rate from
five per cent to four per cent. TRA now administers
the Tourism
Levy Act that replaced the former Hotel
Room Tax Act.
Background
The Alberta hotel room
tax was introduced in 1987. The direct five per
cent tax was added to the purchase price paid by
the consumer on temporary accommodation in Alberta
for both business and personal use.
The new tourism levy,
like its predecessor, will be collected and remitted
to TRA by the providers of temporary accommodation.
The tax does not apply to rooms occupied continuously
for 28 days or more by the same person, or in establishments
with fewer than four bedrooms for rent.
For more information,
see the Special
Notice, Bill 21 - Hotel Room Tax (Tourism
Levy) Amendment Act.
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