Hotel taxes: The rise will hit Berlin next
BERLIN - Money, money, money, that's what Berlin's state government was salivating over as they passed a new tax set to bring in more than €25 million per year for Germany's 'poor but sexy' capital.
But instead of taxing the residents living in the German city, this is a tax aimed at tourists – a 5% levy that hotel owners must pay to Berlin's finance office from Jan. 1, 2014, and a penalty likely to be passed on to visitors keen to take in the top attractions.