Administrative Resolution No. (2) of 2020
Prescribing the Rules for Calculating, Collecting, and Paying the
Tourism Dirham Fee in the Emirate of Dubai[1]
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The Director General of the Department of Tourism
and Commerce Marketing,
After perusal of:
Law No. (1) of 1997 Establishing the Department of
Tourism and Commerce Marketing and its amendments;
Law No. (15) of 2013 Establishing the Dubai
Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing;
Decree No. (13) of 2011 Concerning the e-Programme
for Hotel and Tourist Establishments in the Emirate of Dubai;
Decree No. (17) of 2013 Concerning Licensing and Classification
of Hotel Establishments in the Emirate of Dubai; and
Executive Council Resolution No. (2) of 2014
Approving the Tourism Dirham Fee in the Emirate of Dubai and its amendments,
Does hereby issue this Resolution.
The following words and expressions, wherever
mentioned in this Resolution, will have the meaning indicated opposite each of
them unless the context implies otherwise:
|
Emirate: |
The Emirate of Dubai. |
|
DTCM: |
The Department of
Tourism and Commerce Marketing. |
|
DCTCM: |
The Dubai Corporation
for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. |
|
Hotel Establishment: |
Any hotel, resort, hotel
apartment, guest house, budget hotel, floating hotel, holiday home, or
other
hotel establishment, as specified by the DTCM in accordance with the
above-mentioned Decree No. (17) of 2013. |
|
Tourism Dirham Fee: |
The fee charged to a
Guest for his stay at a Hotel Establishment as per the amount specified in
the above-mentioned Executive Council Resolution No. (2) of 2014. |
|
Guest: |
A natural person staying
at any Hotel Establishment in return for payment. |
|
Main Guest: |
A Guest in
whose name or on his behalf a contract for staying at a Hotel
Establishment is concluded, who is required to pay
the Tourism Dirham Fee, and who is responsible towards the Hotel
Establishment for fulfilling all the obligations arising
from using
the hotel room. |
|
Accompanying Guest: |
A Guest who accompanies
a Main Guest during his stay at a Hotel Establishment and whose stay in the
hotel room is linked to the stay of the Main Guest. |
|
System:
|
The electronic system
adopted by the DTCM through which the Tourism Dirham Fee is calculated and in
which all information related to the Tourism Dirham Fee is recorded. |
The Tourism Dirham Fee will be calculated for
overnight stays as per
the following rules:
1.
For each
hotel room night of a Main
Guest at a Hotel Establishment, he will, for a maximum of thirty (30) consecutive
nights, be charged
the Tourism Dirham Fee. The fee will not apply to hotel room
nights beyond
thirty (30) consecutive nights.
2.
A hotel room night commences upon completion of the check-in process of a Main Guest at the Hotel Establishment and
will end at the
time specified by the Hotel Establishment for the end of
nights or upon
completion of the
check-out of the Main Guest, whichever comes first.
3.
A
consecutive stay will be interrupted by the check-out of the Main Guest even if the Accompanying Guests remain at the hotel room, in
which case an Accompanying Guest will be registered as the Main Guest and the Tourism Dirham Fee will apply
to his stay as a new Guest, provided that the Accompanying Guest is not
a member of the family of the Main Guest.
4.
A stay
to which the Tourism Dirham Fee applies will not be interrupted where the Guest
is transferred to another hotel room within the same Hotel Establishment.
5.
Where
the classification of a Hotel Establishment is upgraded or downgraded during
the stay of a Main Guest, the Tourism Dirham Fee will be calculated for each hotel
room night based on
the classification of the Hotel Establishment at that night. Calculation based
on the new classification must be communicated to the Main Guest by the Hotel
Establishment.
a.
The Tourism Dirham Fee will apply to all rooms,
within a Hotel Establishment, designated for overnight stay and hotel
accommodation. This does not apply to the stay of employees of the Hotel
Establishment or of any company contracted to operate the Hotel Establishment.
b.
Where an
accommodation unit within the
Hotel Establishment is comprised of more than one (1) bedroom, the Tourism Dirham Fee will apply to each room per night.
c.
For the
purposes of determining whether an accommodation unit at a Hotel Establishment
is deemed a hotel room to which the Tourism Dirham Fee applies, reference must be made to the records and registers maintained
by the DTCM or to the recommendation of the employee
assigned by the DTCM in
the report he issues after inspecting the Hotel Establishment.
a.
The Tourism Dirham Fee will be collected from the
Main Guest who occupies a hotel room regardless of the entity that made the
reservation or that is responsible for payment for the stay.
b.
A Hotel Establishment must, when conducting the
check-in of a Main Guest, record a note in the System indicating his capacity
as a Main Guest and the number of his Accompanying Guests.
c.
Where more than a Guest stay at a hotel room, only
one of them will be registered as a Main Guest, and the others will be
registered as Accompanying Guests.
d.
Where the Main Guest checks out from the hotel
room and any Accompanying Guests continue the stay at the Hotel Establishment,
the Hotel Establishment must ensure that one of the Accompanying Guests is
checked in as the Main Guest who is responsible for payment of the Tourism
Dirham Fee for the remainder of the reservation period.
e.
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of
this Article, the Tourism Dirham Fee will not apply to a Guest who is:
1.
an employee of a Hotel
Establishment or of the company which manages the Hotel Establishment where his
stay is for the purpose of performing his night shift duty at the same Hotel
Establishment; or
2.
the owner of the Hotel
Establishment.
The Hotel Establishment must, in these two cases, maintain a copy of the documents proving the capacity of the Guest and the entity he works for.
a. A
Hotel Establishment must inform the Main Guest of the Tourism Dirham Fee by
including a clear description of the fee and stating its amount in the price
lists of hotel rooms. This includes the prices announced through websites and
electronic applications, and the invoices and payment receipts issued to Guests
or to the entity that made the reservation or payment.
b.
A Hotel
Establishment must use expressions that denote that the Tourism Dirham Fee is
actually a fee rather than a tax.
c.
A Hotel
Establishment must enter in the System all the information relating to Guests
before allowing them to occupy hotel rooms.
d.
A Hotel
Establishment must, upon the check-out of a Guest,
enter in the System all the information relating to the number of hotel
room nights of the
Guest, and the amount of the Tourism Dirham Fee collected from him.
e.
The
financial statements of a Hotel Establishment must contain:
1.
the amounts that
are collected from Guests as Tourism Dirham Fee;
2.
the Tourism Dirham Fee amounts paid to
the DCTCM; and
3.
the Tourism Dirham Fee amounts that are collected
but are not paid yet to the DCTCM. These amounts will be
stated as unpaid liabilities.
a.
The Tourism Dirham Fee will be collected, and its proceeds will be paid to the DCTCM
before the sixteenth (16th) day of the month following its
collection.
b.
The proceeds of the Tourism Dirham Fee will be paid through cash deposit, by cheque, or by electronic bank transfer to the bank account specified by the DCTCM.
c.
The date
on which the Tourism Dirham Fee proceeds paid by Hotel
Establishments are received by the
DCTCM, rather than the date on which the payment
notice issued by the DCTCM is
received, will be deemed the actual payment date.
d.
A Hotel
Establishment must include in the bank transfer details its trade name and tourism licence number.
e.
A Hotel
Establishment must, within twenty-four (24) hours from its
payment of the Tourism
Dirham Fee proceeds, enter in the
System the details of the method of such payment.
f.
Where
the deadline for payment of the Tourism Dirham Fee proceeds falls on an official holiday
day, that day
will still count as
part of the period prescribed for the payment.
g.
Where a
Hotel Establishment operates under only one (1) tourism licence but conducts various types of hotel activities, a
separate payment transaction must be conducted for the proceeds of each type of hotel activity.
h.
Where
the Tourism Dirham Fee proceeds are paid by a bank cheque, the date on which the bank
cheque is actually cashed, rather than
the date on which the cheque is issued, will be deemed the actual
payment date.
This Resolution will be published in the Official
Gazette and will come into force on the day on which it is published.
Helal Saeed
Al Marri
Director General
Issued in Dubai on 7 January 2020
Corresponding to 12 Jumada al-Ula 1441 A.H.
©2020 The Supreme
Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai
[1]Every effort
has been made to produce an accurate and complete English version of this
legislation. However, for the purpose of its interpretation and application,
reference must be made to the original Arabic text. In case of conflict, the
Arabic text will prevail.