It is reluctant to let go of sources of income that the state has discovered.

Attempts by citizens to legally bring down new taxes are rarely successful.

This can be seen in the solidarity surcharge that has been levied for thirty years, which by its very nature is actually a temporary supplementary levy.

However, time and again the courts have disappointed the plaintiffs.

But they can at least still hope that the Federal Constitutional Court will ultimately help them.

The hoteliers, who have long campaigned against the state increase in the price of their rooms via municipal bed taxes, no longer have this hope, financially much less important than the Soli.

The Karlsruhe judges have now confirmed the legality of the bed tax.

What's more: Contrary to what the Federal Administrative Court ruled in 2012, this can now even be levied on business travelers.

Previously, it was only permitted for private tourists.

That was difficult to control, which is why some spoke of "dumb tax".

But the following will also apply in the future: no municipality, large or small, will have to levy the anti-business bed tax, which has caused a stir since its introduction in the cathedral city of Cologne in 2010.

So far, the idea of ​​getting money while you sleep has not caught on across the board.

Above all, tourism magnets, such as Hamburg, Freiburg or Bremen, are making sure that the tax is not so important in the travel budget that they lose overnight guests.

However, the argument put forward that the income is being invested in better infrastructure can hardly be verified.

Most municipalities have rightly remained cautious.

They don't want to scare off visitors, but calculate that guests will leave money there anyway and strengthen the local economy.

But now that the legal situation offers more leeway, some chamberlains could take a covetous look at the expense budgets of business travelers.

But during the pandemic, companies have learned to replace travel with video conferencing and thus reduce costs.

Cities that burden them with new taxes and levies must expect evasive reactions.

If the taxpayers vote with their feet, the bed tax becomes a risk for the city coffers.