A Scottish council has begun discussions which could lead to a tourist tax for visitors.

Fife Council’s cabinet committee has agreed to start discussing the levy, which is reportedly worth up to £8 million a year.

Similar schemes have already raised millions for other local authorities in the UK.

Despite the opening of talks in Fife, any tax could still take years to implement, and authorities have committed to consulting community stakeholders before any change is introduced.

The Scotsman reported that the £8 million figure matches the 5% tourist tax planned in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.

Councillors emphasised no decisions had yet been taken and nothing would be done until businesses and communities had been consulted over a nine-month period.

A report will then be submitted to the cabinet committee in January 2026, with an 18-month period required between a final decision and implementation.

This means the earliest any scheme could be introduced in Fife is April 2028.

Last year, the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act gave local authorities new powers to charge a tourist tax for those staying in paid accommodation in their area.

It would operate in a similar way to levies in other cities, with businesses charging customers at the point of sale before passing the proceeds on to the council.

Leader of the Conservative group on Fife Council, Councillor Kathleen Leslie, told The Scotsman: “There is a lot that is very unclear and it feels like another tax being imposed. I do not want people being put off coming to Fife.”

The money would be spent on projects linked to tourism, such as the upkeep of local sites and investment in the tourist economy.

While there is a similar tourist tax in Edinburgh, no English local authority has the power to directly impose such a levy.

However, some authorities including Manchester City Council have introduced similar measures by working around the law.

The City Visitor Charge in Manchester allows eligible hotels, those with a rateable value of £75,000 or more, to itemise a levy on guests’ bills.

Last year, a BBC report claimed that the proceeds had amounted to £2.8 million in the scheme’s first year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in November he was “happy to look into” the possibility of a tourist tax for London’s hotels, and said his team would examine the evidence of the Manchester scheme.

In response to Khan’s comments, trade body Hospitality said any further taxes would be “extremely damaging”.

Tourist taxes have been implemented in cities across the world, and can vary by the quality of accommodation.

In Barcelona, those staying in a four-star hotel pay €4.95 per night, while similar visitors to Paris pay €8.13 a night.

Venice has also announced plans to introduce a €5 charge for day trippers to the city, beginning this year.