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.

Note: Beginning March 1, 2009 the Hotel Room Occupancy Tax will increase from 5% of the room rate to 5.875% of the room rate for all room types.

New for 2009: Beginning in September, 2009, the Hotel Tax has been 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. The hotel operator is responsible for collecting the Hotel Tax for the amount it charges to the room remarketer for the room. This is called the net rent. The room remarketer is now required to collect and remit Hotel Tax based upon the additional amount it charges the occupant, defined as additional rent. The net rent and the additional rent should in most cases comprise the total amount that the guest paid to occupy the room.

Additional Information
Finance Memorandum #09-3
Statement of Audit Procedure HTX-2009-1

Who is Subject to HROT?
Who is Exempt from the Tax?
Tax Forms and Filing Information
Tax Rates
Download Finance Memorandum #09-3
Frequently Asked Questions
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Who is Subject to HROT?
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.

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Tax Forms and Filing Information
The following forms are applicable to the filing of Hotel Room Occupancy Tax returns:

NYC-HTX Hotel Room Occupancy Tax Return
 Download Form (145k)
File online with E-File

NYC-HTXB Hotel Room Occupancy Tax Return
(for use by small facility operators only)
 Download Form (145k)
File online with E-File

A Guide to New York State and Local Sales and Use Taxes Administered by the Tax Department
 New York State Tax Guide for Hotel/Motel Operators

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

Filing Deadlines

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

Note:  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.

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I rent only one room in my house to guests. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
I own one apartment that I rent to guests as a Bed & Breakfast. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
I own a four-family house. I rent out three apartments to tenants under long-term leases. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
What are the different exemptions that might exempt me from having to collect the Hotel Tax?
I own an apartment that I rent for short stays of one week or more. It is my understanding that I don't have to collect the sales tax on these rentals. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?

I rent only one room in my house to guests. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
No. The rental of only one room in your home to guests is not considered the operation of a hotel.

I own one apartment that I rent to guests as a Bed & Breakfast. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
Yes. The exception for rentals of a single room in your home (referred to in Question 1) does not apply to rentals of apartments or rooms in properties that are outside the owner's home. By definition, if the apartment or rooms is not in the owner’s home, the owner has to collect Hotel Tax. However, Finance has recently adopted rules under which rentals for up to 14 days or for fewer than three occasions during the year (for any number of total days) would not be considered the operation of a hotel subject to the Hotel Tax.

I own a four-family house. I rent out three apartments to tenants under long-term leases. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
The Hotel Tax does not apply if you rent to a permanent resident (i.e., a continuous rental for 180 days or more). Therefore, if your “long-term leases” are for 180 consecutive days or more, you do not have to collect Hotel Tax.

What are the different exemptions that might exempt me from having to collect the Hotel Tax?
You do not have to collect the Hotel Tax under the following circumstances:

• You rent only one room in your own home to guests, or
• You rent room(s) or an apartment to the same occupant for a period of at least 180 consecutive days.
• Once the proposed rules are finalized, you would not have to collect the Hotel Tax if, during a year, you rent an apartment or room(s) for up to 14 days or for fewer than three occasions (regardless of the total number of days).

I own an apartment that I rent for short stays of one week or more. It is my understanding that I don't have to collect the sales tax on these rentals. Do I have to collect the Hotel Tax?
You must collect the Hotel Tax for all rentals of this apartment, since the stays are for fewer than 180 days.

Some people who do not collect sales tax on these rentals are confused about the Hotel Tax for the following reason: Before December 1, 2003, many rentals of "bungalows" for a week or more were not subject to the sales taxes or to the Hotel Tax. (“Bungalows” are furnished living units, designed for single-family occupancy.) Effective December 1, 2003, that exemption was repealed, but only for the Hotel Tax.

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