Marketing levy

As of January 1, 2024, a marketing levy of 3% is imposed on the purchase of all short-term, fixed roof accomodations in the municipality, under the municipal Marketing levy bylaw.

Providers of fixed-roof accommodations are required to be registered under the Nova Scotia Tourism Accommodation Registration Act. This now applies to all short-term rentals, including rentals through sites such as Airbnb and Vrbo.

Under the Marketing levy bylaw, 3% of the purchase price of the accommodation is collected by the municipality.

What you need to do

Ensure your property is registered with the Nova Scotia Tourism Accommodation Registry
Complete the municipal marketing levy property registration form
Report and remit the levy on a monthly basis, using the marketing levy reporting and remittance platform: checkinanalytics.com

General information

What is the marketing levy?

Tourism industry partners work together to coordinate tourism marketing efforts and to secure a revenue source that is able to support an integrated and expanded marketing effort.

Industry businesses and municipalities supported a move to create a marketing levy to provide the needed resources to market Cape Breton Island in the global tourism industry.

The marketing levy is used to establish and fund incremental tourism marketing for Cape Breton Island provided by the destination marketing organization.

Who should register?

Any person or business offering fixed roof accommodation up to 30 consecutive days

How to register

To register, complete and return a marketing levy property registration form.

You will be assigned a unique registration number, which will be your identification for all your dealings with with the municipality about the marketing levy.

Reporting periods and requirements

For each month your business is in operation, you must submit a marketing levy remittance report via checkinanalytics.com.

The remittance report shows:

the amount of marketing levy you charged or collected from your customers
the amount of marketing levy you are remitting.

The report must be submitted, with the remittance, by the 15^th day of the month following the collection of the levy.

Example: for the marketing levy collected for January, the report and the remittance must be submitted on or before February 15.

All registered accommodation operators on Cape Breton Island should receive an email with login instructions to Check-In Analytics.
If you have not received an email, please visit checkinanalytics.com to register.

Inform your customers

On any receipt, bill, invoice or other document issued for accommodations, you must:

indicate the price and the total amount of marketing levy the customer pays or owes
indicate to your customers that the marketing levy is subject to HST

Changes to your business

If you change the address, name or nature of your business, your registration certificate must be returned to the municipality. You must then register again as described above, with the updated information.

If your business ceases to operate, the registration certificate will be void and must be returned to the municipality within 15 days of the date of discontinuance.

A registration certificate is not transferable. If you sell your business, the registration certificate must be returned to the municipality within 15 days of the date of sale. The new owner must apply for a new registration certificate.

HST

The marketing levy is subject to HST. You must charge HST on the amount of the marketing levy when charging your customers.

Remitting the marketing levy: Payment and reporting

The marketing levy collected must be remitted to the municipality by the 15^th day of the month following the collection of the levy.

When submitting the remittance, you must also submit a remittance report. The remittance report shows the amount of marketing levy you collected from your customers and the amount of marketing levy you are remitting.

Refund of marketing levy written off

You are liable for the marketing levy you charged or collected from your customers on the day you receive payment or on the day the payment is due, whichever is earlier.

We usually consider payment to be due on the date you issue an invoice or the date in an agreement, whichever comes first.

Therefore, if you issue an invoice before you receive the payment, you have to include the marketing levy charged on this invoice in the reporting period, even if you have not yet collected the tax.

Include the marketing levy you charged for both paid and unpaid invoices in your remittance report for the reporting period in which you issued the invoices.

Bad debt adjustments

If you already included the marketing levy on a credit sale in your remittance report, and that sale became in whole or in part as a bad debt, you can recover the marketing levy as a tax adjustment on your return. To do this, the debt has to be written off as a bad debt in your records, and you have to deal with the person at arm’s length.

Due to errors in recording

If the municipality is satisfied that an operator has remitted an amount as collected that the operator neither collected nor was required to collect under this bylaw, the municipality must refund the amount to the operator. In order to claim a refund under this bylaw, a person must submit to the municipality an application in writing signed by the person who paid the amount claimed, and provide sufficient evidence to satisfy the municipality that the person who paid the amount is entitled to the refund. An adjustment for that amount should be entered on the remittance report.

Filing the remittance report through Check-In Analytics

A dedicated reporting and remitting platform, Check-In Analytics, has been introduced to enable online reporting and simplify the process for accommodation providers.

Compliance audit

To be in compliance with the marketing levy bylaw you must consistently submit accurate reports.
The municipality will monitor accounts for compliance to ensure that remittance forms are completed correctly and accurately.

This is to ensure the success of the marketing levy and the Island wide marketing initiatives that it is designed to support.

Contact information

For any questions about the marketing levy, email: marketinglevy@invernesscounty.ca