593. An initial assessment of the implementation of the Catalonia tourist tax

Abstract

Taxes on tourist activity added to conventional taxes are a permanent topical issue. In this article a territorial and thematic balance related to the implementation of the rate in Catalonia and called the “Impost sobre les Estades en Establiments Turístics (IEET)” is undertaken. This tax was created considering the Parliament of Catalonia Act, 03/2012 that taxes tourist accommodation establishments and which encompasses all the Catalan territory since 1st November of the same year. First, this article reviews the opportunity of creating this type of taxes, applicable in many global tourist destinations as well as the distribution criteria are also analyzed, considering the fund for Tourism called the “Fons de Foment Turístic (FFT)”; the detailed analysis of the collection is made taking into consideration the nine tourist landmarks used by the Catalan Agency of Tourism (ACT).