Hotel Room Occupancy Tax

Three separate taxes apply to hotel room rentals in New York City:

1. New York State Sales Tax,
2. New York City Sales Tax, and
3. New York City Hotel Room Occupancy Tax (usually called the "Hotel Tax").

Hotel Room Occupancy Tax (HROT) applies to the occupancy of any room in a hotel in the City. However, Finance adopted amendments to the HROT rules, which establish new guidelines for when a person will be considered subject to the hotel tax and an annual (instead of quarterly) filing requirement for small facility operators.

New for 2010: In September, 2009, the Hotel Tax was amended to ensure that taxable rent for occupancy for a room purchased from an intermediary, or room remarketer, is the full amount the guest pays to occupy the hotel room.  For years beginning on September 1, 2010, the collection and filing obligations of intermediaries have been modified.


Who is Subject to Hotel Room Occupancy Tax?
Who is Exempt from the Tax?
Filing Information and Forms
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Who is Subject to Hotel Room Occupancy Tax?
The tax is imposed on the occupancy - or the right to occupancy - of a room or rooms in a hotel. The term "hotel" includes an apartment hotel, motel, boardinghouse, bed-and-breakfast, bungalow, or club, whether or not meals are served.

Renting a single room in one's home is not considered to be operating a hotel.

Furthermore, Finance recently adopted rules further delineating when a building will be considered a hotel, as follows:

• Effective September 1, 2004, a building or portion of a building will not be considered a hotel if rooms are rented to guests for up to 14 days in the aggregate or on only one or two occasions (regardless of the number of days) during any four consecutive tax quarters or a 12-month filing period.

For this purpose, room rentals in a single building will be aggregated, and apartment rentals will be aggregated. Rentals to permanent residents, as defined below, will not be included.

The occupant of any room or rooms in any facility described above is liable for payment of the tax. Hotel operators and remarketers (when a room has been purchased from an intermediary) collect the tax and remit it to the City.

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Who is Exempt from the Tax?

• A permanent resident of a hotel or other eligible facility

A "permanent resident" is defined as a person who occupies a room for at least 180 consecutive days. An occupant cannot qualify as a permanent resident of any room for any days on which the room is sublet or resold to another occupant.

• New York State, a public corporation, or a political subdivision of the State
• The United States
• The United Nations
• A not-for-profit organization that was formed and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
  

Filing Information and Forms

Tax Rates
Hotel Room Occupancy Tax is based on the day rate [“rent”] being charged for a room:

All hotel operators in New York City that are required to collect the New York State and City sales taxes on hotel rooms must also collect an additional fee of $1.50 per unit per day. This fee is in addition to the State and City Sales taxes and the New York City Hotel Room Occupancy Tax. For more information, please refer to:
 New York State Department of Taxation & Finance Memorandum TSB-M-05(2)S.

Filing Deadlines

Tax Forms
 Forms & Publications
 Forms & Publications Archive

 Frequently Asked Questions

 A Guide to New York State and Local Sales and Use Taxes Administered by the Tax Department

Certificate of Registration
Every operator of a hotel or small facility and every room remarketer must file a Certificate of Registration with the Department of Finance on the form prescribed below and obtain a Certificate of Authority empowering the operator to collect the Hotel Room Occupancy Tax. In the case of operators commencing business or opening new hotels, a Certificate of Registration must be filed within three days after the commencement or opening. Within five days of registering, the Department will issue a Certificate of Authority which must be prominently displayed at the place of business. In the case of room remarketers, that offer New York City hotel rooms via the internet, scanning the Certificate of Authority and displaying it on the remarketer’s website is considered prominently displayed.
 Certificate of Registration

Additional Information
 Finance Memorandum #10-3