Tourist tax revenues increased 2.5-fold to 7 billion rubles. The Russian Union of Travel Industry proposes making tourists the payers, introducing a fixed rate instead of a percentage-based one, and offering investment deductions for hotels.
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The tourist tax is evolving from an experiment with local budgets into a significant revenue source for municipalities. Between January 1 and August 20, 2026, local governments collected approximately 7 billion rubles from it, compared to more than 3 billion rubles during the comparable period last year. According to the Finance Ministry's forecast, total collections for the year could reach 10.4 billion rubles. Against this backdrop, changes to the tax structure are being proposed: tourists would become the taxpayers, hotels would serve as tax agents, the percentage rate would be replaced with a fixed per-person daily amount, and hotels would receive an investment deduction for reconstruction and major repairs.
Currently, the tourist tax is a local tax. It's paid by organizations, individual entrepreneurs, and self-employed persons providing temporary accommodation services in classified lodging facilities. In 2026, the maximum rate is 2% of the accommodation cost, with the specific rate set by the municipality and a minimum payment of 100 rubles per day.
Collections growing faster than tourist flows
Tourist tax revenues are increasing considerably faster than the tourism market itself. Domestic tourist trips in the first half of the year grew by 4.3%, reaching 43.2 million, while tax collections for January through August 20 increased nearly 2.5-fold. Industry revenues grew by 14.2%, to 571.3 billion rubles. Inbound tourist flows increased by 20.1%, exceeding 2.5 million people.
The dynamics of collections are influenced not only by tourist numbers. Between 2025 and 2026, the maximum rate rose from 1% to 2%, while the number of regions applying the tax increased from 65 to 74. Moreover, the percentage-based model automatically increases payments in line with rising accommodation costs.
In 2025, 63% of tourist tax revenues came from four regions: Krasnodar Krai, Saint Petersburg, Stavropol Krai, and Altai Krai. They collected approximately 3.47 billion rubles out of the 5.5 billion rubles received during the nine-month period.
The bulk of the tax revenue is concentrated in areas where high tourist demand has already been established. For municipalities, this is a growing source of income; for the hotel industry, it's an additional burden that increases along with accommodation prices.
100 rubles may matter more than 2%
A separate issue is the minimum payment of 100 rubles per night. At an accommodation cost of 2,000 rubles, this represents 5% of the price; at 3,300 rubles, it's about 3%. Only when a room costs 5,000 rubles does the minimum payment align with the current maximum rate of 2%.
Starting in 2027, the maximum rate is set to rise to 3%, in 2028 to 4%, and from 2029 onward to 5%. Under a percentage-based model, the tax will grow not only due to rate increases but also in line with the cost of hotel services.
Sergey Romashkin, vice president of ATOR for domestic tourism and general director of tour operator Delfin, believes the increased burden is ill-timed:
"In our view, the mechanism for collecting the tourist tax under current conditions of declining domestic tourist flows requires adjustment. ATOR has repeatedly noted that the current scheme, under which the tourist tax rate increases every year, appears untimely, and we have proposed a decision to temporarily freeze the practice of collecting this tax until the domestic market begins to recover."
He also points to the pricing situation:
"Against the backdrop of falling hotel prices (and we're seeing that due to declining demand, prices have dropped by an average of 2-4% in four out of five key tourist regions), the increase in tax burden looks destructive. Moreover, further increases in the tax burden on hotels are scaring off investors and making the prospects for many projects uncertain."
Making the tourist the taxpayer
The first proposal from RST is to change the legal structure of the tax. Currently, the payer is the hotel or other accommodation facility. Under the new model, the tourist would become the payer, with the hotel acting as a tax agent and remitting the fee to the budget. The amount would be shown as a separate line item when settling with the guest.
The industry believes this would make the payment more transparent and simplify the application of exemptions. Today, some bookings are paid before check-in, when the hotel cannot yet confirm the guest's eligibility for tax exemption.
"It's fundamentally important to properly understand our initiative. We're not proposing an additional tax on tourists. We're proposing a change to the structure of the existing tax. Today, the hotel is the taxpayer, and in a number of cases it effectively pays the tax out of its own bottom line. In our view, it makes more sense for a tax economically linked to a person's stay in a territory to apply directly to the tourist, with the accommodation facility acting as a tax agent. At the same time, the mechanism should be as simple and transparent as possible for the guest himself," noted President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Ilya Umansky.
ATOR supports the transition to a fixed amount and advocates for targeted use of the funds, but doesn't consider itemizing the payment as a separate line item to be a good idea:
"However, ATOR believes the idea of breaking out the fee as a separate line item on the hotel bill is ill-timed: this was already tried with the 'resort fee,' and will obviously only create negative publicity due to irritation from tourists who have grown accustomed to the absence of additional charges at the hotel. Russian resorts hardly need that kind of PR today."
Percentage to be replaced with fixed amount
The industry's second proposal is to abandon tying the tax to room rates and establish a fixed amount per person per night. Municipalities would retain the ability to set the specific amount taking into account seasonality, accommodation category, and territorial characteristics, including introducing a zero rate during certain periods.
The logic behind the proposal is to prevent rising hotel rates from automatically leading to higher taxes. Under such a system, municipalities would benefit more from attracting more tourists and increasing the length of their stays.
"The right system should motivate territories to earn money not from rising hotel room prices, but from tourism growth—from having more guests arrive, stay longer, and return more often. That way, the interests of the municipality and the tourism industry align," noted Ilya Umansky.
The third measure is an investment deduction. Hotels would be allowed to reduce future tourist tax payments by confirmed expenses on reconstruction and capital repairs. In this case, part of the funds would remain with the business and be directed toward upgrading room inventory and engineering infrastructure.
For businesses, this creates an incentive to invest, but for budgets it means a temporary reduction in revenues. Therefore, it will be necessary to define a list of eligible works, rules for confirming expenses, and a deduction limit.
Regions are already determining where the money goes
Stavropol Territory demonstrates how significant this revenue source can become. In 2025, municipalities received 740.9 million rubles in tourist tax. For the eight months of 2026—509.9 million rubles. In 2026, the tax is collected in 32 municipal formations, up from 25 a year earlier.
Urban districts accounted for 490.1 million rubles, or 96.1% of revenues, while municipal districts contributed 19.8 million rubles, or 3.9%. Kislovodsk and Yessentuki lead the way, accounting for 39.8% and 21.2% of revenues respectively.
Formally, the tourist tax is fully credited to local budgets and has no designated purpose. However, in Stavropol Territory, by order of the governor, the funds are directed toward developing, maintaining, and improving tourist infrastructure and creating public spaces.
At the same time, the region has seen no increase in the cost of spa and resort vacations following the tax introduction. About 75% of the territory's guests stay at spa and resort facilities, where the tax is calculated at the minimum rate of 100 rubles. Therefore, authorities do not expect the future increase in the maximum rate to 5% to negatively impact vacation costs or the competitiveness of resorts.
The approach in Altai is similar. In 2025, Belokurikha received 98.6 million rubles in tourist tax. According to municipal authorities, a significant portion of the funds is directed toward beautification, renovation of tourist infrastructure, and organizing events.
The Altai Territory Department for Tourism and Resort Development believes the results could include "beautification of public spaces, including landscaping, improved information accessibility, and enhanced sanitary comfort."
So far, regional experience shows that money can flow back into tourism through beautification and infrastructure even without a federal requirement for designated use. The RST reform proposes embedding this logic directly into the tax system itself.
With further rate increases to 5% by 2029, the importance of this issue will only grow. How the tourist tax is structured will determine not only the size of the tourist's payment or the hotel's expenses, but also whether it becomes a source of development for tourist destinations or primarily a tool for replenishing local budgets.
