Call it natural teething trouble, unfortunate miscalculation or avoidable incompetence, one way or another it hasn't taken long for Edinburgh's much-heralded tourist tax, or visitor levy to give it its Sunday name, to run into difficulties.

From the experience of operators to the impact on the Festivals, the prize of £50 million a year in revenue has seemingly blinded the council to legitimate concerns which could and should have been thrashed out before the scheme went live a month ago. A special council meeting was needed in February to approve the scheme so it would be in place before the start of August, and already the failure to heed warnings is being felt.

Not that the majority of councillors will have an iota of sympathy, but small accommodation providers such as guest houses and short-term lets (STLs) are finding they are subsidising the scheme with no means of reclaiming losses, at the same time as potentially being punished for failing to pass on the full amount of tax due.

The problem arises because of the widespread use of booking agencies such as Booking.com and Airbnb because, thanks to dynamic pricing, owners do not always know how much their guests have paid. At this time of high demand, it could easily lead to them underpaying the tax due if the rental charge is higher than they realised.

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