BTB Hotel Amnesty Program

Belize City, Belize, Friday, 23 September 2022: The Belize Tourism Board (BTB) announces that on October 1^st, 2022, it will launch a Hotel Tax Amnesty Program for unlicensed tourist accommodation properties, as per the recently approved Accommodation Tax (Remission of Arrears) Act, 2022. The following categories of tourist accommodations will be eligible:

• Apartment or Apartment Studio
• Condominium
• Vacation Homes or Room Rentals

The amnesty period will run for three months from October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. However, the application period to be considered for the Amnesty Program will be for 30 days, October 1-31, 2022. All interestedapplicants must submit an application form during this period, for the Tax Amnesty Program to the Registrar of Hotels for vetting. Once approved for the Amnesty Program, to remain eligible for the amnesty, successful applicants will be required to submit a completed application form for a Hotels and Tourist Accommodation License and required documents by December 31, 2022.

This amnesty program is a part of the tourism recovery strategy for Belize, encouraging in particular short-term rental properties that operate on platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO, Vacasa, Homestay, HomeToGo, etc. that have opened tourist accommodation properties in recent years to formalize their operations, avoid future legal and taxation challenges, and to become official members of the Belize tourism offer.

For more information on the application process, if your property qualifies, or for more information on the Tax Amnesty Program kindly contact Mr. Denmar Villar, Registrar of Hotels, at [email protected].