Hot spring resort town near Tokyo to introduce new lodging tax from 2028

Hakone, a famous hot spring and resort town southwest of Tokyo, said Friday it is considering introducing a new lodging tax for people staying in hotels and other accommodations, possibly from April 2028.The Hakone resort area in Kanagawa Prefecture is looking to introduce the accommodation tax as a local discretionary tax, with revenue not earmarked for any specific purpose, a first in the country.Visitors will be taxed 350 yen ($2) per night except for elementary school children and younger children, and students on school trips, with the aim of raising about 1.4 billion yen in annual rev…READ FULL ARTICLE