Suggestion to transfer accommodation tax to local governments

This study focuses on the accommodation tax as a possible source of income to help municipalities in Turkey manage the growing demand for services in popular tourist areas. First, it looks at how municipalities in Turkey currently get their income and shows that they rely heavily on the central government's tax revenues, which leads to budget problems. Then, the study compares how accommodation taxes are used in countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, and the United States. It explains who collects the tax, how much is charged, and how the money is used. In most of these countries, local governments collect the tax and use it to improve tourism services and infrastructure. In Turkey, however, the central government collects the accommodation tax and distributes it to local governments based on factors like population and development level. In the third part of the study, the importance of cities like Antalya, Muğla, and Istanbul in generating this tax income is highlighted. As a result, it has been argued that directly allocating the accommodation tax to local governments would enable a more effective response to the increasing demand for services caused by tourism. Keywords: Antalya, Municipal revenues, Accommodation, Accommodation tax,Tourism.