Last verified: June 4, 2026. Every rate and fee below was re-confirmed against New York State and New York City government sources on this date. Hotel taxes change by legislative action, so check the linked official pages before relying on any figure for a booking far in the future.

The nightly rate you see on a booking site is not the price you pay. In New York City, a hotel room carries three separate taxes and one flat fee, layered on top of each other. A room advertised at $300 a night can clear $350 once the city, the state, and the per-night charges are added at checkout. None of this is a “junk fee” a hotel invented — these are government taxes with statutes, forms, and filing deadlines behind them, and they work differently from the everyday NYC sales and sin taxes you pay at the register. This guide breaks down exactly what each line on your folio is, who collects it, what the current rates are, and how to get money back if you were charged tax you did not owe.

The four charges stacked on every NYC hotel room

Three different taxes and one fee apply to a hotel room rental in New York City. They are collected by two different governments:

• New York State Sales Tax — 4% of the room rent.
• New York City Sales Tax — 4.5% of the room rent.
• Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) tax — 0.375% of the room rent. New York City is inside the MCTD.
• New York City Hotel Room Occupancy Tax — 5.875% of the room rent, plus a small flat dollar amount per room per night (explained below).
• New York State Hotel Unit Fee — a flat $1.50 per room, per night.

The first three taxes are administered by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The Hotel Room Occupancy Tax is administered separately by the New York City Department of Finance. The $1.50 unit fee is a state fee that applies only inside New York City.

The State Department of Taxation and Finance confirms the structure plainly: the rent charged for occupancy “is taxable at the combined state and local sales tax rate,” and “in addition to the state and local sales taxes on occupancy, operators and booking services must also charge a unit fee of $1.50 per unit per day of occupancy in New York City.”

What the combined rate actually adds up to

Add the three percentage taxes that apply to the rent:

• 4% (state sales tax) + 4.5% (NYC sales tax) + 0.375% (MCTD) = 8.875% combined sales tax.
• Plus 5.875% NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax.
• Combined percentage rate on the rent: 14.75%.

On top of that 14.75%, you also pay the flat-dollar charges that do not scale with the room price: the NYC occupancy tax’s per-room daily amount and the state’s $1.50 unit fee. So the honest summary most travelers should remember is: roughly 14.75% of the room rate, plus about $3.50 to $4.00 in flat per-night charges.

The flat per-night NYC occupancy charge, by room price

The 5.875% is not the whole NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax. The city also imposes a small flat amount per room per night that steps up with the room price. According to the NYC Department of Finance, the flat charge is:

• Rent of $10 to less than $20: $0.50 per day per room
• Rent of $20 to less than $30: $1.00 per day per room
• Rent of $30 to less than $40: $1.50 per day per room
• Rent of $40 or more: $2.00 per day per room

Because almost every real NYC hotel room rents for more than $40 a night, in practice this flat city charge is $2.00 per room per night for ordinary travelers. A suite made up of multiple rooms is charged $2.00 for each room in the suite — a three-room suite carries $6.00 in flat city charge per night, plus the percentage occupancy tax on the whole suite rental.

A worked example: a $300 room for three nights

Say you book a standard room at $300 a night for three nights. Here is how the bill builds, using the verified rates above:

• Room rent: $300 × 3 nights = $900.00
• Combined sales tax at 8.875%: $900 × 0.08875 = $79.88
• NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax at 5.875%: $900 × 0.05875 = $52.88
• NYC flat occupancy charge ($2.00 × 3 nights): $6.00
• NY State Hotel Unit Fee ($1.50 × 3 nights): $4.50
• Total taxes and fees: $143.26
• Grand total: $1,043.26

That is about 15.9% added to the advertised price once the flat charges are spread over the stay. The percentage feels higher on cheaper rooms and shorter stays because the flat $3.50 per night is a bigger slice of a small bill. For a fuller picture of how these layered charges fit alongside everything else the city taxes, see our breakdown of every tax and fee you pay in NYC in 2026.

When you do NOT owe the tax: the permanent-resident rule

The single most valuable thing to know about NYC hotel taxes is the permanent resident exemption, because it can erase the tax on long stays. The rules differ between the state taxes and the city tax, and the difference matters:

• State and local sales tax: a guest becomes a permanent resident after staying 90 consecutive days without interruption, and is no longer charged state and local sales tax from that point.
• NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax and the local portion: in New York City, the local sales tax continues to apply until a guest has stayed 180 consecutive days. The NYC Department of Finance defines a permanent resident as one who occupies a room for at least 180 consecutive days.

The State spells out the timeline for stays inside New York City: days 1 through 90, you pay state and local sales tax plus the unit fee; days 91 through 180, you pay only the local sales tax. Once permanent residency is established, the operator can credit or refund the tax already paid — and if they do not, you can apply directly to New York State for a refund.

If you are staying in an extended-stay hotel for a relocation, an insurance displacement, or a long work assignment, this rule is worth thousands of dollars. Confirm with the operator before check-in that they will track your consecutive days and adjust the tax. Visitors managing currency conversion and card surcharges on top of these taxes may also want our guide to money mechanics for the international NYC traveler.

Who is fully exempt

Some guests never owe the tax at all. Per the NYC Department of Finance and the State occupancy bulletin, exempt parties include:

• Permanent residents (180+ consecutive days for the NYC tax, as above).
• The United States government, including military personnel traveling on official business.
• New York State and its political subdivisions and public benefit corporations.
• The United Nations.
• Qualifying nonprofit organizations formed and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes, or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Exemption is not automatic. To claim it, government employees must give the hotel a completed Form ST-129, Exemption Certificate for Occupancy by Government Employees. Exempt organizations use Form ST-119.1, and the organization — not the individual traveler — must be the direct payer of record. If an employee pays with a personal card and gets reimbursed later, the exemption does not apply. A guest who is exempt from the sales tax on occupancy is also exempt from the $1.50 NYC unit fee.

What about Airbnb and short-term rentals?

The same taxes can apply to apartments, condos, and rooms rented short-term, not just traditional hotels. Under state rules, a booking service that facilitates short-term rental occupancy in New York must collect sales tax on the charge for occupancy. For the NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax specifically, the city’s threshold is frequency-based: you are not required to collect the hotel tax for a single rental of up to 14 days, or for fewer than three rental occasions in a year. Rent more often than that — three or more occasions, or more than 14 total nights — and the hotel tax applies. Separately, any rental under 30 days requires a short-term rental registration through the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, which is a different obligation from the tax.

How to read your folio and dispute an error

State rules require that the customer’s invoice separately show the taxes and, where it applies, the NYC unit fee. Local bed taxes, if any, must also appear as a separate line. So you have the right to an itemized bill. When you check out, look for these distinct lines and check the math against the rates above:

• Combined sales tax should equal the rent × 8.875%.
• NYC occupancy tax should equal the rent × 5.875%, plus the flat per-night amount.
• The state unit fee should be exactly $1.50 per room per night — not a percentage.

If you believe you were over-charged — for example, you crossed the 90- or 180-day permanent-residency line and tax kept being collected — first ask the operator to credit or refund it. If they will not, the State allows you to apply directly for a refund of sales and use tax (see Tax Bulletin TB-ST-350 on the tax.ny.gov site). For the NYC occupancy tax, refunds are handled by filing an amended return with the Department of Finance, though note the city does not pay interest on hotel-tax refunds.

Where to get free help and verify the rates yourself

• NYC311: call 311 within the city, or 212-639-9675 (212-NEW-YORK) from outside, for questions about the Hotel Room Occupancy Tax.
• NYC Department of Finance — Hotel Room Occupancy Tax page: nyc.gov/site/finance/business/business-hotel-room-occupancy-tax.page (rates, forms NYC-HTX, filing deadlines).
• NY State Department of Taxation and Finance — Tax Bulletin ST-331, Hotel and Short-Term Rental Unit Occupancy (updated July 30, 2025): tax.ny.gov, the authority for the unit fee and permanent-resident rules.
• NY State Tax Bulletin ST-825, Sales Tax Rates, Additional Sales Taxes, and Fees (updated August 11, 2025): confirms the 4% state rate, the 0.375% MCTD rate, and the $1.50 NYC hotel unit fee.
• Forms: Form ST-129 (government employee exemption) and Form ST-119.1 (exempt organization) are on the tax.ny.gov forms pages.

The bottom line

For a typical New York City hotel stay, budget about 14.75% of the room rate plus roughly $3.50 per night in flat charges.