Decision ID: 001263
In October 2001 the 1992 Fund considered the admissibility of claims submitted by four communes for reduction in revenues from tourism tax (taxe de séjour). It was noted that the tax was levied by communes that were recognised tourism resorts and destinations, and that the level of the tax was fixed annually by the commune on the basis of a fixed amount per tourist (not business visitors) per night of stay, the amount varying depending on the type of accommodation. The Committee noted that the tax revenue was used by the communes to support costs of services related to tourism in the commune such as beach cleaning, rubbish collection, information and local tourism offices. The Committee noted that in previous cases the 1971 Fund had rejected claims for lost tax revenues (Tanio and Haven incidents), but that in the case under consideration it was clear that the reduction in tourism tax revenue was largely a result of a reduction in tourism caused by the Erika incident and that there was a reasonable degree of proximity between the loss and the contamination. Whilst some delegations considered that the claims were admissible in principle, other expressed general reservations concerning the acceptance of claims relating to reduction in tax revenues, pointing out that different taxation systems could give rise to different treatment between Member States. The Committee decided to postpone its decision to its 16th session.