What is a city tax?

What is a city tax and who charges it?

City tax is a levy on staying overnight in a place, and the money goes to the local authority that imposes it. The hotel acts as the collection point: it works out the amount for each booking under the city's rules, adds it to the guest's bill, and passes it on. The hotel does not keep the money and does not usually decide how much it is.

That split matters for travellers because every element of the charge comes from local rule-making rather than from the hotel or from a loyalty programme. The city chooses the basis on which the tax is calculated, whether that is a flat amount for each guest for each night, a flat amount for each room for each night, or a figure tied to the room rate. The city also decides which guests pay and which are exempt, and it can revise the rate and the exemptions on its own timetable. Two hotels of the same brand in two cities can therefore collect very different amounts, and a rate quoted in a guide can fall out of date without any hotel changing its prices.

This is the main reason the tax rarely appears in the headline price. A room rate is the hotel's own price for the accommodation, while the city tax is a pass-through amount that the hotel advertises separately, if at all. Programme terms follow the same convention. Hilton Honors states that, unless otherwise stated, quoted rates are per room per night, based on single or double occupancy, and do not include taxes, gratuities, incidental charges and resort fees where applicable. [8] A guest comparing a room rate with the final bill should expect the city tax to sit outside the figure first shown.

How do hotels bill city tax?

The charge normally arrives as its own line on the hotel folio, either alongside the room charge for each night or as a single summary line at check-out, and it is settled with the rest of the bill. Because it is an additional item rather than part of the room charge, it is one of the entries worth checking on the hotel folio and billing checklist before paying.

The basis of calculation varies. Hilton Honors' programme terms refer to taxes that are quoted as a per person or per room charge, which indicates that both forms of quoting exist among its participating hotels. Those taxes are listed among the components that are excluded from the 2nd Guest Stays Free benefit, alongside package and bed-and-breakfast rates and all-inclusive properties, so a second guest staying free in a member's room does not necessarily remove a tax that is charged for each person. [8]

The tax can also outlive the stay. Under the 48-Hour Reservations Guarantee described in Hilton Honors' terms, a Diamond Elite Tier Status member who does not arrive as scheduled, or who does not cancel and obtain a cancellation number, has the credit card charged one night's room and tax. [8] In that situation the city tax is collected even though no night was spent, because the charge is modelled on the room charge for the first night.

Does city tax earn hotel points?

Usually not, and the two programmes here show how differently the question can be answered.

In Hilton Honors, any applicable federal, state or local taxes, including city occupancy tax, are not considered Eligible Spend and are omitted when Points are calculated for a stay. [8] This affects more than the Points total: Hilton Honors members qualify for Elite Tier Status on the basis of Stays, nights or Eligible Spend in a calendar year, and Eligible Spend counts toward that qualification. [8] A tax that sits outside Eligible Spend therefore reduces both the Points earned on a stay and the spend credited toward status.

Marriott Bonvoy's rules treat part of this differently at all-inclusive properties. For a stay at an All-Inclusive Resort, or at a participating property offering all-inclusive packages year-round and designated by the company as all-inclusive, Qualifying Charges include the taxes, service charges and gratuities that are part of the qualifying room package rate, and in certain limited cases taxes, service charges, gratuities and fees related to other incidentals charged to the room bill may also be eligible for earning Points. [7] That is a narrow setting: it applies to tax bundled inside a package rate at those properties, not to every tax line on every Marriott Bonvoy bill.

Elsewhere Marriott Bonvoy can narrow the earning base to the room charge itself. At Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas, a non-branded participating property with limited participation in the programme, members may earn Points or Miles on room rate only. [7]

Exceptions and limits

• Award stays. Whether a city tax is absorbed into a redemption depends on the property and the programme, and is stated only where the programme publishes it. For Award Redemption Stays at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas, Marriott Bonvoy says the redemption includes the standard room rate and room tax only; extra-person charges, resort fees, service charges and other property charges are the member's responsibility and are not included. [7] That is one property's published treatment, not a rule for award stays generally.
• Guide prices age quickly. Because the rate and the exemptions belong to the municipality and are revised on the city's own schedule, a figure carried over from an earlier trip or an older guide is not a reliable expectation for the next one.
• Exemptions are local. No loyalty programme sets who is excused from city tax; that list comes from the levying authority, so a guest who is exempt in one city may pay in another.
• Not a substitute for the resort fee. A city tax is a government charge passed through the bill, while a resort fee is a property charge for amenities, and Hilton Honors treats the two separately in its rate and benefit terms. [8]
• Per-person charges survive some benefits. Hilton Honors excludes taxes quoted as a per person or per room charge from its 2nd Guest Stays Free benefit. [8]

Frequently asked questions

Is city tax included in the room rate I am quoted?

Generally it is not. Hilton Honors states that, unless otherwise stated, quoted rates are per room per night and based on single or double occupancy, and do not include taxes, gratuities, incidental charges and resort fees where applicable. [8]

Do I earn hotel points on city tax?

In Hilton Honors, city occupancy tax is not Eligible Spend and is omitted from Point accrual for stays. [8] Marriott Bonvoy does count taxes that are part of a qualifying all-inclusive package rate as Qualifying Charges at designated all-inclusive properties. [7]

Is city tax charged when I stay on points?

It depends on the property. Marriott Bonvoy publishes that Award Redemption Stays at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas include the standard room rate and room tax only, with extra-person charges, resort fees, service charges and other property charges left to the member. [7]

Is city tax charged per person or per room?

Both forms appear. Hilton Honors' terms refer to taxes that are quoted as a per person or per room charge, and exclude those taxes from the 2nd Guest Stays Free benefit. [8]

Do I pay city tax if I never check in?

Under Hilton Honors' 48-Hour Reservations Guarantee, a Diamond Elite Tier Status member who does not arrive as scheduled, or who does not cancel and obtain a cancellation number, has the credit card provided charged one night's room and tax. [8]

Related pages

Keep reading: hotel folio and billing checklist, hotel service charge, resort fee, hotel points vs cash, and the full glossary of frequent flyer terms.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors are the two programmes covered here; other hotel loyalty programmes and the airline frequent flyer programmes are not covered on this page, and municipal rate schedules are not reproduced here.

1. Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty Program Terms & Conditions, checked 18 October 2026
2. Hilton Honors Member Rewards terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026