Know what penalties apply and when if you fail to register your visitor accommodation.
Contents
When you may get a penalty
If you are registering your accommodation
The penalties apply based on if your accommodation was open for bookings before 1 April 2027 or not.
Offering your accommodation before 1 April 2027
You must register all your premises by 31 March 2027.
Offering your accommodation after 1 April 2027
You must register your accommodation before you open it for bookings.
If you are updating your registration details
You must update your registration within 30 days after the change happens.
For example, you add more rooms to your hotel. You must update your registration within 30 days after it happens.
If you do not update your details within 30 days, you may get a penalty.
If you stop offering your accommodation
You must deregister within 30 days after you:
- stop taking bookings
- have no more guests staying
For example, if you stop advertising your hotel, you must deregister it within 30 days after the last guest leaves.
If you do not deregister within 30 days, you may get a penalty.
How penalties apply
The penalties apply per each of your premises.
Premises are the addresses you offer your accommodation at.
For example, if you have 3 houses at different addresses that are open for bookings, you have 3 premises. If you have a converted barn and a cottage at the same address, you have 1 premises.
How much is your penalty
The penalty for failing to register, update, or deregister your accommodation is £100 per premises.
Failing to register all your accommodation
For example, if you have 3 cottages at different addresses that you failed to register, you’ll get a £300 penalty. If you had one of those cottages registered on time, but failed to register the other 2, you’ll get a £200 penalty.
Failing to update your registration
If you buy a new cottage, you must add it to your registration before advertising it for bookings. If you do not update your registration, you’ll get a £100 penalty.
If you change the number of bedrooms or beds in one of your cottages, you must update your capacity within 30 days. If you do not, you’ll get a £100 penalty.
Failing to deregister you accommodation
If you no longer provide accommodation in all 3 of your cottages, you must deregister within 30 days. If you do not, you’ll get a £300 penalty.
When you must pay your penalty
You must pay your penalty within 30 days.
Failing to register after you get a penalty
If you do not register, update details, or deregister on time, you’ll get another penalty. It's £10 per premises for up to next 30 days.
For example, if you failed to register or deregister 3 houses at different addresses for 30 more days, you’ll get:
- £10 × 3 premises × 30 days = £900 penalty to pay
If you fail to register within those 30 days, you’ll get a further £1000 penalty per premises.
Example of putting the penalties together
Leopold has 3 houses around Cardiff he offers on Airbnb. All houses are at different addresses. So, he must register them as 3 premises.
Leopold fails to register on time and gets a £300 penalty.
He also fails to register them for another 30 days.
He now must pay £900 more in penalties for each of those missed days (£10 × 3 premises × 30 days = £900).
Failing to register within these 30 days also brings him a penalty of £3000 (£1000 × 3 premises = £3000).
In total, Leopold now must pay a £4200 penalty (£300 + £900 + £3000 = £4200).
If you stop offering your accommodation
You must still pay off all your penalties.
If the Welsh Revenue Authority registers you
The Welsh Revenue Authority has a right to register you. This registration will count as a late registration, and the same penalties will apply.
If you disagree with the penalty
If you think you should not be paying the penalty, you can:
How you can get support
For help with registration penalties, contact the Welsh Revenue Authority.