🎯 Strisker: Bulletin - Riga, Latvia
City council committee backs raising the nightly accommodation levy from €1 to €2 with STR hosts explicitly named as fee payers under Riga's tourism tax rules
Riga Short-Term Rental Hosts Face Doubled Tourist Tax Starting January 2027
“All revenue generated from the tourism tax is reinvested in developing the tourism sector. The extra funding will allow for a long-term, predictable tourism marketing policy."
- Fredis Bikovs, Director of the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency
Riga City Council Finance and Administrative Affairs Committee – 16th Meeting (July 2, 2026)
Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/5Syk81iQAJY?si=HYmA5tCAnO9B0hQp&t=930
The Riga City Council's Finance and Administrative Affairs Committee has endorsed amendments that will double Riga's municipal accommodation tax from €1 to €2 per person per night starting January 1, 2027 and with the fees to apply directly to short-term rental hosts aside from hotels. Under the binding regulations governing the levy, fee payers include anyone who rents residential space to tourists for pay unless the stay falls under Latvia's Residential Rent Law. This means STR hosts operating short stays are squarely covered while long-term tenants are not.
On the Municipal Fee for Hosting Visitors and Tourists in Riga
Riga City Council Binding Regulations No. RD-22-173-sn
On the Municipal Fee for Hosting Visitors and Tourists in Riga
What's changing
The new charge is structured as a base rate of €1.78 plus value-added tax that totals to €2 per guest per night. The regulations cap total liability at €17.80 for any continuous stay and replace the current €8.90 cap that has applied since the rate was last adjusted in November 2023. In practice, the cap works out to the first ten nights of a stay since no fee is owed from the eleventh night onward.
Who has to pay and who is exempt
Hosts already register through the latvija.gov.lv e-service portal within 10 working days of starting to host paying guests which is a process unaffected by the rate change. The fee does not apply to guests under 18, to people housed free of charge, to staff living at the property, or to Ukrainian civilians accommodated under Latvia's government support scheme. Guests staying under a standard residential or hostel lease rather than a short-term booking also fall outside the fee's scope.
Reporting and enforcement
The current regulations set out no specific fine for non-compliance.
Why Riga is raising the rate
The Riga Investment and Tourism Agency and city officials reached the agreement with hospitality and travel industry groups including the Latvian Hotel and Restaurant Association after Riga's €1 rate fell behind Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga which already charge €2 per night. Officials plan to direct the added revenue toward international marketing and an expanded Riga Convention Bureau for business tourism which is a part of a wider Latvian trend that has seen Kuldīga adopt its own €1.50 tourist tax this year.
⦾ Effective date: January 1, 2027
⦾ Registration required: Yes, via latvija.gov.lv e-service within 10 working days of starting to host
⦾ Night cap: Fee applies to the first 10 consecutive nights of a stay; capped at €17.80 total
⦾ Penalty for non-compliance: Not specified i
⦾ Platform responsibility: Not addressed; individual accommodation providers are the registered fee payers, not platforms
In case you missed it:
Jasmine Ruth Albatana
Jasmine Ruth Albatana
Jasmine Ruth Albatana
Strisker News Tracker
Trying to keep up with STR and data center regulations across multiple cities and states? Our News Tracker makes it easier than ever. Filter by location, search a comprehensive database, and sort by impact level—this tool helps you focus on what matters most.
Stay Updated with STRisker!
STRisker offers tools and features to keep you updated with the Short Term Rental movement (and now Data Centers!) movement across the world.
👍 We’d love your feedback.
We're always looking for ways to improve Bulletins.
Was this one useful to you? Other topics you'd like to see get covered?
✉️ Just reply directly to this email. We read and respond to every message!
-Will McClure
🙋 P.S.
Know someone else who should be reading this Bulletin? Feel free to forward this along. We want to make sure operators and stakeholders are aware of regulatory changes in their area.