The Scottish Ministers have made the Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2026 (Commencement and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026, with the instrument made on 3 June 2026, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 5 June 2026 and due to come into force on 22 July 2026. According to the Scottish Statutory Instrument published on legislation.gov.uk, the regulations were signed by Jenny Gilruth on behalf of the Scottish Government. In practical terms, this is the commencement instrument for the remaining parts of the 2026 amendment Act. It does not itself establish a nationwide levy scheme. Instead, it fixes the date on which the outstanding provisions of the amendment Act take legal effect and sets a specific transitional rule for some councils already moving through the scheme-making process.
The explanatory note states that the Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 21 May 2026. Part 2, other than section 15, came into force on the day after Royal Assent. Sections 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and the relevant parts of section 15, together with Parts 2 and 3 of the schedule, are brought into force by this instrument on 22 July 2026. That matters because commencement regulations settle the legal timetable. For local authorities, tourism businesses and advisers, the instrument provides a fixed date for when the remaining amendments move from enacted text to operative law.
The more consequential element sits in regulation 3. The explanatory note says this transitional provision applies where a local authority wants to alter the basis of a proposed visitor levy scheme from a percentage charge to a fixed rate, and where that change counts as a significant modification under section 14(4)(bb) of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024. Under the 2024 Act as amended, section 14(3B) would ordinarily require a minimum period of 18 months between publication of the relevant report under section 13(1)(c) and the date on which that significant modification could take effect, provided the scheme is not yet in force. Regulation 3 creates a temporary exception to that longer lead-in period for a defined group of schemes.
The exception is tightly drawn. According to regulation 3(2), the council must already have published, on or before 22 July 2026, a report under section 13(1)(c) stating that it intends to proceed with the proposed scheme. It must also have completed the notification and publication steps required by section 15(1) of the 2024 Act, and the scheme must still not be in force when these regulations commence. A further timing condition then applies. No later than six months after 22 July 2026, the same authority must publish another report under section 13(1)(c) stating that it intends to make a significant modification of the type described in section 14(4)(bb). Only where each of those statutory tests is met does the transitional relief become available.
If those conditions are satisfied, regulation 3(1) disapplies section 14(3B) for that case and substitutes a shorter minimum period. The significant modification may then take effect at least six months after the date of the later section 13(1)(c) report, rather than after 18 months. The instrument still places a floor under implementation timing. The modified scheme cannot take effect earlier than the original date publicised under section 15(1)(b)(ii) as the point at which the scheme would have come into force. In effect, councils may move to a fixed-rate model more quickly in this limited scenario, but they cannot use the transitional rule to bring a levy forward ahead of the date already placed in the public domain.
For councils that have already advanced a proposed scheme, the change removes part of the delay that would otherwise follow a late-stage redesign. A switch from percentage to fixed rate can be material for administration, public communication and the presentation of charges to visitors. The regulations recognise that some authorities may want that option without reopening the timetable by another 18 months. For accommodation providers and tourism businesses, the immediate effect is greater certainty on process rather than on price. The instrument confirms that any qualifying modification must still observe a six-month notice period and cannot take effect before the originally publicised commencement date. That limits the risk of a faster-than-expected start while leaving room for councils to revise scheme structure.
The legal effect is therefore procedural but important. From 22 July 2026, the remaining provisions of the 2026 amendment Act will be in force, and a temporary bridge will exist for a narrow set of proposed local schemes that wish to move from a percentage levy to a fixed-rate levy. For policy teams, finance officers and operators in the visitor economy, the main reading of the instrument is straightforward. The Scottish Government has now fixed the outstanding commencement date, and it has also reduced one transition period where councils are already well advanced and meet every condition set out in regulation 3. The operative detail sits in the statutory wording rather than in broad ministerial discretion.