Palazzo dei Giurati digitizes the tourist tax and aims to increase the revenue, eliminating the submerged that still escapes the controls.
In the council chamber of Palazzo dei Giurati, crowded with managers of accommodation activities to the point that someone has remained outside, The PayTourist portal was presented, a functional platform (taormina.paytourist.com) put in free available to accommodation facilities to allow the registration of hotel activities and extra hotel, the management of tax payments and communications to the authorities.
To present the new tool, the mayor Cateno De Luca, the councilor for tourism Jonathan Sferra, the president of the city council Giuseppe compound and Alberto Pergola, project manager Paytourist.
“In 2024 we reached the record figure of 4,690,000 euros of revenues from the tourist tax – began Sferra – compared to the 3,900,000 euros of 2023 and 2,800,000 euros in 2022, with the tourist presences passed from 1,015,000 in 2022 to 1,380,000 in 2023, while for 2024 we have not yet we have the final data but we believe there has been further increase, thanks to the good service carried out by hoteliers and the good work of the municipal administration ».
Sferra explained how the tax revenue is used: “In 2024 we allocated 840,000 euros (there were 120,000 in 2022 and 478,000 in 2023) to the improvement of environmental hygiene services, waste collection, public transport – he underlined – and we reopened Palazzo Congressi and Palazzo Corvaja. There are already ten important events on the program. “
The activation of the PayTourist platform, on which the first 22 structures have already been recorded, is considered by the commissioner an important step forward: “There is still so much submerged – admitted Sferra – the software allows the control of the territory by reading the advertisements and comparisons with the structures recognized by the Municipality on the portals to discover those operating in black. An action of loyalty and fairness towards those who pay the tax. In addition, PayTourist allows you to draw up the statistics and know the appearances of tourists in the city ».
For the tourist tax, the Municipality has already issued payment notices for 431,373 euros And as many are those to be issued.
“The data highlight that the work done in a year and a half gave the desired result – commented De Luca – but we are still not at the level we want to achieve. There is a job made of investments to simplify the obligations but it is not correct that a percentage of evasion continues to exist. The initial study allowed us to start a recovery strategy and brought for the tourist tax to a growth of over 65%, but still a 20%missing: if they pay everyone we can allocate at least 50%of the revenues in services and promotion. PayTourist is a piece of an overall strategy – he concluded – which provides for a platform managed by the new Foundation with a view to activating the service card “.
