Munich (dpa / lby) – The Bavarian state government is thwarting the city of Munich with its plans to levy a bed tax from 2023. The government wants to initiate a change in the law that bans such taxes for the whole of Bavaria, said Head of State Florian Herrmann (CSU) on Tuesday after a meeting of the government cabinet in Munich. The change is being prepared “quickly” by the Ministry of the Interior. So far, there has not been a bed or accommodation tax in any Bavarian municipality.
Municipalities still have the option to pass such taxes. However, they would have to be approved by the district government, said Herrmann. There is already a decision by the Federal Administrative Court from 2012 that expresses concerns about such taxes. The Bavarian state government shares the concerns – among other things, because a bed tax runs counter to the federal government’s easing of VAT.
The state government is unanimous in the position that such taxes are not conducive. “That’s not possible,” said Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters). He had the “urgent request to the city of Munich to please leave this nonsense behind,” said Aiwanger. “We are glad that tourism is gaining a foothold again.”
The city of Munich had planned a bed tax of five percent on overnight stays in Munich hotels. Both leisure and business trips should be affected, but not minors or offers that cannot be directly assigned to overnight stays, such as breakfast or wellness offers. The municipality had promised additional income of up to 58 million euros.
The hotel and restaurant association in particular had opposed this. He criticized the plans as “nonsense”. The Bavarian hotel and catering industry suffered greatly from the corona pandemic that broke out in 2020 and its consequences and had to cope with a significant drop in sales.