A quarterly return is a summary — total accommodation charges, total levy collected. An inspection is where that summary is tested against the detail behind it. Records are what let you answer, for any booking, "how did you get this number?"
The core obligation
Accommodation providers are required to keep accurate records of all transactions that are subject to the levy. This is a standing requirement of the scheme, not something that only matters at filing time. Every booking that falls within the levy needs to be recorded accurately enough that the figure you submit can be traced back to the underlying transactions.
Why records matter: the Council inspects
The Council will conduct inspections, as required, to ensure compliance with the scheme and its remittance requirements. Providers who fail to comply may be subject to penalties.
This is why record-keeping is not optional housekeeping. Your quarterly return is a summary; an inspection tests that summary against the detail behind it. If the records supporting your figure are incomplete or inconsistent, that's a compliance problem even if the summary total looked reasonable.
What "good records" actually means
The scheme doesn't reduce to a single tidy checklist, but the principle is straightforward: your records should let anyone reconstruct how you arrived at your return. In practice that means being able to show, for each relevant booking:
- The accommodation charge the 5% levy was calculated on
- The number of nights and how the five-night cap was applied
- The levy charged
- Whether any booking was outside scope or exempt, and why
- The documentation behind exempt or reclaimed bookings
If your records let you answer "how did you get this number?" for any booking in the quarter, you're in a strong position. (For how the figure itself is built, see the levy explained and how to file your return.)
Exempt and outside-scope bookings need records too
It's not only leviable bookings that need documenting. Where a booking was treated as outside scope, exempt, or covered by the transitional rule, the reasoning and any supporting evidence should be on file. An inspection may look at why the levy was not charged on a particular booking just as readily as whether it was charged correctly where it applied. The exemptions guide covers how exempt bookings work.
The gap between a PMS export and a defensible record
A reservations export from your booking system is a starting point, not a finished record. It shows what was booked and paid, but it does not, on its own, show how the levy was calculated on each booking — the base used, the cap applied, the extras excluded, the exempt bookings identified. That reasoning is exactly what an inspection tests, and exactly what a raw export does not contain.
Being inspection-ready by default
The strongest position is one where being inspection-ready isn't a separate task — it falls out of how you produce your return in the first place.
Make the audit trail a by-product of filing
LevyReady produces a full audit report alongside every return: the figures, the rules applied to each booking, and every correction, documented. The evidence an inspection would ask for already exists as a by-product of filing — not something you reconstruct later. Your booking data is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
Run your first audit free →Questions
What records must I keep for the Edinburgh visitor levy?
Accurate records of all transactions subject to the levy — enough to show, for each booking, the accommodation charge, nights and cap, levy charged, and the basis for any exempt or outside-scope treatment.
Does the Council inspect visitor levy records?
Yes. The Council conducts inspections as required to ensure compliance, and providers who fail to comply may face penalties.
Is a PMS export enough on its own?
No. An export shows what was booked, but not how the levy was calculated on each booking, which is what an inspection tests.
Do I need records for bookings I didn't charge the levy on?
Yes. Exempt, outside-scope and transitional bookings should be documented with the reasoning and any supporting evidence.
This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice, and reflects the City of Edinburgh Council scheme as published (confirm current details, including any record-retention period, on the Council's portal or published provider guidance). LevyReady does not file returns on your behalf — the operator remains legally responsible for the accuracy of all submissions.