Hotel Occupancy Tax / Bed Tax / Transient Lodging Tax Calculator

How this calculator works

U.S. hotels, B&Bs, and boutique inns generally collect and remit multiple layers of transient-occupancy tax on each room-night sold. The layers stack — the guest pays one combined tax figure at checkout — but the remittance happens to different authorities on different schedules. This calculator decomposes the stack so the operator can verify each layer is being collected and remitted correctly.

The standard stacking pattern (varies by jurisdiction):

1. State sales tax on lodging (or a state-specific lodging / transient rental tax)
2. County transient occupancy tax or tourist development tax (TDT)
3. City transient occupancy tax
4. Tourism Improvement District (TID) assessment
5. Special taxes — resort district, convention center, stadium, mountain district, etc.

The total tax per night is the nightly rate times the sum of all rates. The annual obligation is the per-night tax times the property's annual room-nights sold.

Florida — Fla. Stat. § 212.03 and § 125.0104

Florida imposes a state sales tax of 6% on transient rentals under Fla. Stat. § 212.03 — lodging of 6 months or less. The statute applies to hotels, B&Bs, vacation rentals, motels, and any other transient accommodation.

On top of the state 6%, Florida counties may impose:

• Tourist Development Tax under Fla. Stat. § 125.0104, typically 4 to 6%. The proceeds are restricted to tourism promotion, convention center bonds, beach renourishment, or sports facilities depending on the county ordinance.
• Local discretionary surtax (the local option sales tax) under Fla. Stat. § 212.055, typically 0.5 to 1.5%, which applies to lodging as part of the general sales tax base.

State sales tax goes to the Florida Department of Revenue. Tourist Development Tax goes to the county tourist development council or county tax collector. Operators must register with both the state DOR and the county TDC (or tax collector) before collecting.

Example — Orlando: state 6% + Orange County TDT 6% = roughly 12.5% combined (state plus county). City TOT 0% — Orlando has no city TOT.

Example — Miami Beach: state 6% + Miami-Dade County TDT 3% + Miami-Dade County Convention Tax 2% + Miami Beach City Resort Tax 4% + 0.5% Homeless and Domestic Violence Tax = approximately 15.5%.

California — Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 7280

Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 7280 is the enabling authority allowing California city and county governments to impose Transient Occupancy Tax. Unlike Florida or Texas, California has NO state-level lodging tax — the entire lodging tax burden in California is city and county TOT.

The statute requires that any city or county imposing TOT must do so by ordinance, that the tax must be imposed on the rent paid by the transient, and that the operator collects and remits to the local revenue department.

Rates vary widely:

• Small California cities run 8 to 10% TOT
• Major California cities run 12 to 15%: Los Angeles 14%, San Francisco 14%, Anaheim 15%
• Most major California cities also have an overlay Tourism Improvement District assessment of 1 to 4%, formed under the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994

Example — Los Angeles: state 0% + LA County 0% + LA City TOT 14% + Tourism Marketing District approximately 1.5 to 2% = approximately 15.5%.

Example — San Francisco: state 0% + SF City TOT 14% + Tourism Improvement District 1 to 2.25% = approximately 15.25 to 16.25%.

Texas — Texas Tax Code Chapter 156

Texas imposes a state Hotel Occupancy Tax of 6% under Tax Code Chapter 156. The state HOT applies to lodging of less than 30 consecutive days.

On top of the state 6%:

• County HOT under Tax Code Chapter 352, typically 0.5 to 7%
• City HOT under Tax Code Chapter 351, up to 9% (or 17% in certain venue project districts including Austin and Houston)

Major Texas markets run a combined state plus county plus city HOT of 13 to 17%.

Example — Austin: state 6% + Travis County HOT 2% + City HOT 9% + Venue Project Tax 2% = 19% total.

Texas operators register with the Texas Comptroller for the state HOT and separately with each county and city imposing local HOT. The Texas Comptroller publishes a current rate table.

NYC — Admin Code Title 11, Chapter 25

NYC imposes a city Hotel Room Occupancy Tax under NYC Administrative Code Title 11, Chapter 25, in addition to NY State sales tax on lodging.

The combined NYC stack:

• NY State lodging sales tax: 4%
• MCTD surcharge (metropolitan commuter transportation district): 0.375%
• NYC sales tax on lodging: 4.5%
• NYC Hotel Unit Fee: $1.50 per night (a flat fee, not a percentage)
• NYC Hotel Occupancy Tax: 5.875%

Combined: approximately 14.75% plus $1.50 per night. NYC operators register with the NYC Department of Finance for the city Hotel Tax and with NY State Department of Taxation and Finance for the state sales tax.

Tourism Improvement Districts

A Tourism Improvement District (TID) is a geographic district within which hotels (and sometimes other lodging properties) pay a property-level assessment to fund destination marketing. TIDs are formed by majority vote of property owners under state-specific enabling laws:

• California: Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994
• Texas: Special Improvement District law
• Florida: Tourism Improvement District legislation
• Similar statutes in most major-city tourism markets

Once formed, the assessment is mandatory for all properties within the district boundary, typically 1 to 4% of gross room revenue. Proceeds are dedicated to destination marketing — convention bureau funding, advertising campaigns, event sponsorships — and cannot be diverted to general government revenue.

Most operators pass the TID assessment through to the guest as a line item; some absorb it depending on local custom. The calculator treats TID as a pass-through tax-equivalent for guest-cost computation.

Resort fees and tax treatment

A resort fee is a mandatory per-night charge collected by the property, typically $20 to $60, that bundles services like Wi-Fi, fitness center access, pool access, and local calls. Resort fees are NOT a tax — they are property revenue, taxable as room revenue in most jurisdictions.

Florida, California, Texas, and most major states tax mandatory resort fees as part of the room rate (the tax base) because they are mandatory for occupancy. Some jurisdictions are stricter: New York City has been particularly aggressive about treating resort fees as deceptive trade practice if separately stated, requiring the hotel to disclose the all-in rate inclusive of resort fee at the search results page.

The FTC has signaled increasing scrutiny of mandatory fees that are not separately disclosed; properties should review their resort-fee disclosure against state consumer protection law before relying on the structure. The 2024 FTC proposed rule on "junk fees" would require all-in pricing disclosure for hotel room rates inclusive of mandatory fees — if finalized, the rule would standardize resort-fee disclosure across all U.S. markets.

OTA marketplace facilitator framework

Most major OTAs (Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, Hotels.com) collect lodging tax from the guest under marketplace-facilitator tax laws enacted in most U.S. states since 2018 (following the Supreme Court's Wayfair decision on sales tax nexus).

When the OTA collects, the OTA remits directly to the state revenue department under its own marketplace-facilitator registration. The hotel does NOT separately collect or remit the tax on bookings flowing through that OTA — but the hotel is still responsible for verifying the OTA collected and remitted correctly.

The compliance failure mode is severe. In jurisdictions where the OTA does NOT have a collection agreement, or for sub-state taxes (city, county, TID) that the marketplace-facilitator law does not cover, the hotel is still on the hook. Operators should not assume OTA collection covers every layer — verify per jurisdiction and per OTA.

The framework is asymmetric and confusing:

• State sales tax / state TOT. OTAs typically collect under state marketplace-facilitator law. Verify with state revenue department.
• County TOT. Some states extend marketplace-facilitator law to county taxes; many do not. Verify per county.
• City TOT. Less commonly covered by marketplace-facilitator law. Most cities still expect the hotel to collect city TOT on OTA bookings; some have separate agreements with major OTAs.
• Tourism Improvement District assessment. Rarely covered by marketplace-facilitator law. Hotel typically responsible for TID even on OTA bookings.
• Special taxes. Coverage varies by jurisdiction.

This calculator does NOT distinguish OTA-collected vs hotel-collected tax. It presents the gross tax burden the guest pays. For the OTA vs hotel collection workflow, the operator should consult Avalara MyLodgeTax or similar compliance service for jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction coverage.

Registration before collection

Most jurisdictions require registration before the first taxable booking:

• Florida operators register with the Florida Department of Revenue for state sales tax and separately with the county tourist development council or county tax collector for TDT.
• California operators register with the city or county revenue department imposing TOT (no state-level registration).
• Texas operators register with the Texas Comptroller for state HOT, with each county imposing county HOT, and with each city imposing city HOT.
• NYC operators register with the NYC Department of Finance for city Hotel Tax and with NY State Department of Taxation and Finance for state sales tax.

Most jurisdictions have an online registration portal. Failing to register before collecting is a misdemeanor in most states and a felony in some. Florida treats willful failure to register as a third-degree felony under Fla. Stat. § 212.12. Register first, collect second.

Filing frequency

Varies by jurisdiction and by the property's annual tax obligation:

• Florida state sales tax — monthly for properties collecting more than $1,000 per month, quarterly for $500 to $1,000 monthly, semi-annual for $100 to $500 monthly, annual for under $100 monthly.
• Florida county TDT — monthly in most counties.
• California city / county TOT — typically monthly for large properties, quarterly for small.
• Texas state HOT — monthly for properties collecting more than $500 per month, quarterly for less.
• NYC Hotel Tax — monthly.

Operators should set up an annual filing calendar across all jurisdictions and authorities. Missing a deadline triggers late filing penalties of 10 to 25% of the tax due plus interest. Avalara MyLodgeTax and similar compliance services automate the filing calendar; smaller properties manage it in-house using a spreadsheet calendar.

Exemptions

Often available with proper documentation:

• U.S. federal government employees on official travel — generally exempt from state and local lodging tax with a proper exemption certificate (Form 1094 or equivalent).
• State government employees — often exempt under reciprocal agreements; rules vary by state.
• Nonprofit organizations — may be exempt in some states (Texas exempts educational and religious organizations).
• Foreign diplomats — usually exempt under Vienna Convention obligations.
• Long-term stays of more than 30 consecutive days are exempt from many transient lodging taxes (the transient threshold). The property must convert the booking to a long-term-lease structure with proper documentation to defend the exemption on audit.

The hotel must collect and retain the exemption certificate at the time of booking. Claims made later are usually not honored. Maintain exemption certificates for at least four years — the standard audit lookback window in most jurisdictions.

Audit defense

The state revenue department (or city / county tax collector for local taxes) periodically audits hotels. The auditor requests records covering the audit period — typically three to four years.

The auditor compares the property's gross room revenue per the PMS or accounting close against the tax remitted per the filed returns. Mismatches drive the audit.

Common audit findings:

• Under-reported revenue. PMS revenue exceeds filed-return basis.
• Exemption certificates missing or invalid. Claimed exemption that cannot be substantiated.
• Resort fee not included in taxable base. Jurisdiction taxes resort fees but property excluded them.
• Long-term-stay exemption claimed without documentation. No lease conversion paperwork.
• OTA-flow-through tax double-counted or missed. Hotel remitted tax that the OTA already collected, or vice versa.

Penalties for under-collection or non-remittance run 10 to 25% of the underpayment plus interest. Willful evasion can be criminal. Maintain reconciliation between PMS gross revenue and filed-return basis monthly to spot issues before the auditor does.

TOT, TDT, HOT, "bed tax" — what is the difference?

All four terms refer to transient occupancy tax — a tax on lodging stays of less than a defined threshold (typically 30 days, varies by state). The naming convention is jurisdiction-specific:

• California uses TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) at the city and county level.
• Florida uses TDT (Tourist Development Tax) for the county tax under Fla. Stat. § 125.0104 plus a state sales tax on transient rentals under § 212.03.
• Texas uses HOT (Hotel Occupancy Tax) at the state, county, and city levels under Tax Code Chapters 156, 352, and 351.
• "Bed tax" is a colloquial term used in some markets (particularly resort and ski-town markets in CO, UT, NV).

The tax base and rate structure varies but the underlying concept — taxing short-term lodging stays — is the same.

Comparison to short-term rental tax compliance

The framework is identical to STR lodging tax — state, county, city, and special taxes stack on top of each other regardless of whether the property is a traditional hotel, a B&B, or a short-term rental on Airbnb or Vrbo.

The structural difference is in who collects and remits:

• Traditional hotels collect at the front desk and remit themselves.
• STR platforms (Airbnb, Vrbo) collect at booking and remit under marketplace-facilitator agreements in most states, though coverage varies by sub-state (city, county) layer.

The STR tax compliance calculator in the vacation-rental cluster handles the STR-specific platform-remittance framework. For traditional hotels, B&Bs, and boutique inns this calculator presents the operator-collected stack.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator surfaces the tax stack and per-night tax burden. It does not model:

• Use tax on furniture, fixtures, and equipment. Hotels often owe state use tax on FF&E purchases from out-of-state suppliers — not captured here.
• Sales tax on meals, beverage, parking, and ancillary. Many jurisdictions tax these separately from rooms. Not in scope.
• Income tax. Federal and state income tax on the property's net income. Consult a CPA.
• Property tax. A separate ad valorem tax on the real property, not on the rental transaction.
• Employment taxes. Payroll tax obligations on hotel employees. Not in scope.
• OTA-collected vs hotel-collected distinctions. Calculator shows gross tax burden; remittance pathway is operator-specific.

The calculator is a planning and reconciliation tool. It is not a substitute for professional tax advice. Hotel operators should consult a CPA familiar with hospitality industry tax compliance before relying on the output for filing or remittance decisions.