Bruges city tax 2026: how much per person per night, and how do you file it?

Short answer: the city tax in Bruges is €3.75 per person aged 18 and over per night in 2026 and 2027 for room-based accommodation such as a B&B, guest room or hotel. From 2028 it rises to €5. At a campsite or other pitch-based accommodation it is €1.50 (€2 from 2028). You keep a register every week and file your return after each quarter, by 15 April, 15 July, 15 October and 15 January.

Below you will find what that means in practice: who has to pay, how to calculate it, what the register and the return involve, what is different for a holiday home, and how to pass the amount on to your guests correctly.

Who does the Bruges city tax apply to?

Bruges levies the tax on providing tourist accommodation: any space that offers tourists one or more nights for payment and is offered on the tourist market, directly or through an intermediary such as Booking.com or Airbnb. A B&B, guest room, hotel or hostel all fall under it.

For the city, a tourist is not just someone on holiday. Anyone staying in Bruges for work or a business contact counts too. A business traveller staying two nights pays just the same.

The tax is owed by the operator. The owner of the building is jointly liable: if the operator does not pay, the city can turn to the owner. If you rent a building to run a B&B in it, both parties should know this.

How much is it, and how do you calculate it?

Bruges charges per person aged 18 and over per night, not per room. Minors do not count.

Two examples for a B&B in 2026:

• A couple, three nights: 2 people × 3 nights × €3.75 = €22.50.
• A family with two parents and two children aged 10 and 16, two nights: only the parents count. 2 people × 2 nights × €3.75 = €15.00.

If you compare with other cities, watch the age limit. Ghent also charges per adult aged 18 and over. Antwerp charges from age 12, so a 16-year-old does count there (read the Antwerp city tax). Brussels has charged per room instead of per person since 2026 (the Brussels city tax).

Already setting prices for 2028? Keep in mind that the B&B rate goes up from €3.75 to €5 per person per night. For a couple staying three nights that is €30 instead of €22.50.

Exemptions include nights booked through social tourism agencies under the Flemish decree Iedereen verdient vakantie (Everyone deserves a holiday). For an ordinary B&B this rarely applies.

A holiday home in Bruges: a separate regulation

If you let a holiday home with planning permission as such (a house or flat where the guest has their own kitchen, bed and bathroom), it does not fall under the accommodation regulation but under the separate regulation on holiday homes. That one has two parts:

• a flat fee of €1,220 per holiday home per year, owed by the owner on 1 January regardless of occupancy (indexed every year from 2027);
• an additional tax per person aged 18 and over per night when the home is actually let: €3.75 in 2026 and 2027, €5 from 2028.

The register and return work the same way as described below. If you have both rooms and a holiday home, check for each unit which regulation applies.

The register: update it every week

Bruges asks for more than a quarterly total. You keep a digital register provided by the city via brugge.be/aangifteplicht. In it you enter, for each night, the number of occupied rooms and the total number of guests aged 18 and over. The register must be filled in every week, after the calendar week (Monday to Sunday) ends, so the city can check it.

If you do not have access yet, request it from the Finance/Tax department (Financiën/Fiscaliteit). If digital does not work for you, you can ask for paper register sheets.

Starting a new B&B? Notify the department before your first guest, so your register is ready. If you stop or hand over the business, report it within 14 days.

The return and payment: per quarter

After each quarter you submit the register within 15 days:

• January to March: by 15 April
• April to June: by 15 July
• July to September: by 15 October
• October to December: by 15 January

If that date falls on a weekend, it moves to the next working day. The city calculates the tax from your return and sends an assessment notice. You pay within two months of it being sent.

No return, or an incomplete one? Then the city can set the tax ex officio. Without data, it uses your full capacity multiplied by the number of days in the quarter, as if you were full every night. On top of that comes a surcharge: 10% for a first offence, rising to 100% for repeat offences. A completed register is quickly cheaper than a forgotten one.

How do you pass the city tax on to your guests?

You do not pay the tax out of your own pocket: you charge it to the guest.

1. Separately on the bill. The guest pays your nightly rate plus €3.75 per adult per night. Transparent, and the amount adjusts automatically to the number of adults.

2. Included in your price. Simple for the guest, but because Bruges charges per adult, a fixed mark-up stops being right as soon as occupancy changes.

Letting through Airbnb? Airbnb does not collect tourist tax in Belgium for you. You charge it and you file the return. How to set that up on Airbnb and Booking.com is explained in Airbnb and city tax in Belgium.

How to set it up in BedFlow PMS

In BedFlow PMS you set up the tourist tax once, in your property's tax set (Settings → Taxes): a line of the type Tourist tax, calculation € per person per night, rate 3.75. Your website, bookings, quotes and invoices then all use the same amount. On the invoice the tourist tax appears as a separate line at 0% VAT. In 2028 you only change the rate to 5. Everything is explained step by step in the guide on VAT and tourist tax.

BedFlow PMS counts tourist tax per adult; children do not count. That matches the Bruges rule, provided guests under 18 are booked as children. If a teenager is booked as an adult, adjust the number.

For your quarterly check, go to Management → Insights → Statistics and use the Q1 to Q4 buttons to see how much tourist tax you charged in that quarter. Divide that amount by €3.75 and you get the number of taxed nights; it should match the sum of your weekly registers.

Questions for the city

If you are unsure about your situation, contact the Finance/Tax department of the city of Bruges, Burg 12, 8000 Brugge, at belastingen@brugge.be. The full regulations are on brugge.be/aangifteplicht.

Want your tourist tax to calculate the same everywhere, from your website to your invoice? Try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days, no card details needed. Or check our pricing first.