“In invoice overnight, will appear a line that is the overnight rate,” said the councilman of Finance of the House of Lisbon.

The councilor of Finance of the Lisbon Chamber today announced that, starting next year, will get a fee to be charged to tourists who stay overnight in the city, with a maximum value of seven euros.

“In invoice asleep in each of the respective institutions, will appear a line that is the overnight rate,” said John Paul Scott, who was speaking to journalists at the end of the presentation of the municipal budget for next year.

The mayor specified that “will be the hoteliers themselves charging” this value, which at most amounts to seven euros, even if a tourist stay, for example, two weeks in the city.

After the collection, which starts Jan. 1, 2016, hoteliers deliver value to the Chamber.

According to this official, the rate will be applied to all tourists, even national, “It is not legitimate, the legality point of view [...] what is European legislation on the tax law, distinguish between people the same country and even from different countries. ”

“Here the issue is service,” he stressed, noting that there is “a set of exceptions” provided.

Among these exceptions are, for example, the case of a person who goes to Lisbon because it has a hospitalized family, he said.

“Other situations are more difficult to determine and we will not create more excecionalidade other than these specific exceptions,” said John Paul Saraiva.

The creation of a tourist tax in Lisbon passed the House in December 2014 (and was provided for in the budget for 2015), then estimating the charge of one euro to who came to the airport or the port of the capital and of one euro to night on overnight stays.

The collection methodology has since been changed and, this year, the payment liability will be only the management of airports, following the agreement reached between the municipality and the ANA, which entered into force on April 1.

Next year, the fee is already being charged on overnight stays and the same should happen in airports and ports, although still do not know how.

“With regard to arrivals, we are studying how we will perform” collection, both at the airport and the cruise terminal, said John Paul Saraiva.

Asked if he will be again the ANA to support this rate, the mayor said, “I do not know.”

“We are studying all this and soon we shall have more information on this matter,” he said, referring without, that are on the table “three options”.

The responsibility for the portfolio of Finance said still “some reassurance” in meetings with sector entities in relation to the charge.

The House of socialist majority, hopes to raise a 15.7 million revenue from the tourist tax next year, a figure which reverts to a tourism fund set up to finance investments in the city. In 2014, it was predicted that the tourist tax surrendered seven million.

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