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What tourist taxes are

Tourist taxes (called eco-tax, IEET, tourist levy or similar names depending on the region) are local levies that some Spanish autonomous communities and city councils apply per night and per guest. The property charges the guest and then remits the amount to the relevant administration. In Spain, several regions and municipalities currently have active tourist taxes, among them:
  • Balearic Islands — Sustainable Tourism Tax (IETE), popularly known as “ecotasa”.
  • Catalonia — Tax on Stays in Tourist Establishments (IEET).
  • Santiago de Compostela — municipal per-night tax.
  • A Coruña — municipal per-night tax.
Each has its own formula (per-person/per-night amount, night caps, exemptions for age or reason of stay, etc.). That’s why Roomdoo doesn’t apply a single global formula — it configures the tax per property based on where it operates.

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How Roomdoo models it

In Roomdoo, the tourist tax is handled as a configurable service attached to the property. This lets every property have its own tax, with its own amounts, rules and exemptions. For each reservation, the base formula is: 
tax = amount_per_person × number_of_people × number_of_nights
On top of that, modifiers apply depending on the region:
  • Per-adult and per-child amount (in many regions children are exempt or pay less).
  • Night cap (some regions only count the first N nights of a stay).
  • Accommodation category (in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia, the amount depends on stars or establishment type).
  • Season (high / low, the amount can change in some regions).
  • Exemptions for age, medical reasons, Camino de Santiago pilgrims, official travel, etc.
This configuration is done from our side during onboarding or when a new rule is added, to ensure the tax is calculated according to the regulation in force in each location.
If your property operates in a region with a tourist tax and you don’t have it configured yet, contact support to enable it. Don’t enable a “service” for the tax on your own — the formula has rules that should be reviewed case by case.

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Before asking for a fix, verify

Most “tax wrongly calculated” issues are resolved by reviewing the reservation data:
1

Check the number of adults and children

In the reservation detail, verify the number of people is correct and that children are marked as such. A common error is counting a child as an adult when creating the reservation.
2

Check the number of nights

Some regions cap the tax to the first N nights (e.g. 7). If the stay exceeds the cap, the tax isn’t proportional to total nights.
3

See if the guest or the agency pays the tax

On agency or some OTA reservations, the tax may not be included on the invoice because the guest pays it directly at reception. If you see “tax = 0 €” but expected to see it, check the sales-channel configuration.
4

Check whether any exemption applies

Most common exemptions: children, long stays, pilgrims (Camino de Santiago), official travel. If the guest declares an exemption, it should be reflected before calculating the tax.

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Common cases

Typical configuration bug. Check whether your region has a cap (some calculate only the first N nights). If your stay is short and it still only calculates 1 day, contact support with the booking reference.
Can happen if the reservation was created as out of service, complimentary / invited and later switched to a normal reservation. Edit the reservation and recalculate the tax, or contact support if you can’t find how to apply it.
Check:
  • Correct number of adults and children
  • Current rate in your region (amounts can change at the start of the year)
  • Accommodation category if your region considers it (Balearic Islands, Catalonia)
  • Season (high/low) if applicable
  • Declared exemptions
If after checking everything the amount doesn’t match, contact support.
The default behaviour is to apply it to every reservation that meets the criteria. For a manual exemption case (pilgrim, official travel, medical reason), send us the booking reference and the justification and we’ll handle it.
The tax is calculated automatically and, by design, isn’t edited by hand on most properties. Any adjustment needs support to avoid breaking the settlement with the local administration.
Send us the local regulation details (amounts, exemptions, caps) and we’ll configure it. If the region is already supported on another property, activation is usually quick.

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When to contact support

  • The tax calculates an amount that doesn’t match your region’s formula after verifying every parameter.
  • You need to change the configuration of the tax at property level (amount changes, new year, permanent exemption).
  • The tax isn’t applied automatically to reservations and it should be.
  • A specific agency or channel shouldn’t apply the tax but the system applies it (or the other way around).
  • Your property operates in a new region with a tax you haven’t configured yet.
Don’t manually edit the tax amount on a validated invoice. Regional regulation requires reporting collection with consistent data, and modifying it through unofficial paths can create compliance issues with the local administration.