What taxes do you collect at your Inn?

Hi all. Marvelous forum you have here!
I'm doing some research at the moment on the taxes/fees applicable to Inns in different states and countries and I'd love to hear from anyone willing to share what they have to work with.
Specifically I'm most interested in:

1. What taxes do you have to deal with? (City/County/State/Lodging/Occupancy/Sales/etc.)
2. Are they percentages or flat rates?
3. Any conditions or rules dictating which taxes are applied? E.g. If room cost is > $A, tax at X%. If room cost is > $B, tax at Y%. If number of nights is over 30, don't tax at all.
4. Do you have any compound or 'stacked' taxes or are they all separate?
5. Do your taxes change based on where the guest is from (e.g. out-of-state or international guests)?

Thank you for taking the time to read. I would truly appreciate any input you can give.
Have a wonderful day!

West Virginia has a State Sales Tax of 6% of the sale. There is also a hotel tax of 3% to 6% depending on the location (city or county) and what they enacted as the %. I, however, am in a municipality that did not enact an ordinance to collect said hotel tax - therefore I only collect 6% sales tax. City controls the extra tax in their City Limits. If I were out of Limits and in the County, I would be collecting the extra 6% for the County.

gillumhouse said:

West Virginia has a State Sales Tax of 6% of the sale. There is also a hotel tax of 3% to 6% depending on the location (city or county) and what they enacted as the %. I, however, am in a municipality that did not enact an ordinance to collect said hotel tax - therefore I only collect 6% sales tax. City controls the extra tax in their City Limits. If I were out of Limits and in the County, I would be collecting the extra 6% for the County..

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Thank you. I appreciate the reply.
It sounds like your situation is a lot less complicated and more manageable than that of many other Inns.

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days)

Tourism tax on the room only. On top of the total including tourism tax, federal tax and then state/provincial tax. But on something other than the rooms, just the federal tax and state/provincial tax.
I also have to partially pay commercial property tax on my property. And of course our own person income taxes on our income.

Eric Arthur Blair said:

Tourism tax on the room only. On top of the total including tourism tax, federal tax and then state/provincial tax. But on something other than the rooms, just the federal tax and state/provincial tax.
I also have to partially pay commercial property tax on my property. And of course our own person income taxes on our income..

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I appreciate your response. Interesting to read about your compound taxes. May I ask if you use software to manage your reservations, and if so, does it work perfectly with your tax setup? E.g. Can it calculate federal tax and state/provincial tax based on the 'room rate + tourism tax' instead of just on the room rate alone?

Currently 10%
5% sales and use tax
5% transient/lodging tax
(There is a meals tax as well here, but for us I refute this each and every month since we DO NOT SELL any food, and breakfast is complimentary, but I still turn in the form because I have to. But if you BOUGHT a meal here you would pay another 5%. On a pizza, or any place you purchase food.)
Those rentals over 30 days do not pay the transient/lodging tax, and those B&B's with I think 2 rooms or less do not collect it either.

Arkansawyer said:

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days).

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Wow! Five taxes must be tricky to manage. May I ask if all these taxes are calculated on just the room rate, or are some of them 'compounded' in some way? For example, are some taxes calculated based on the room rate plus the total of some of the other taxes?

Aleben said:

Arkansawyer said:

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days).

Click to expand...

Wow! Five taxes must be tricky to manage. May I ask if all these taxes are calculated on just the room rate, or are some of them 'compounded' in some way? For example, are some taxes calculated based on the room rate plus the total of some of the other taxes?
.

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Aleben said:

Wow! Five taxes must be tricky to manage. May I ask if all these taxes are calculated on just the room rate, or are some of them 'compounded' in some way? For example, are some taxes calculated based on the room rate plus the total of some of the other taxes?

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No taxes on taxes. You just total them up (12.25% total) and tack that onto the room rate. So it's not hard at all to manage them all. I do have the software itemize them on the receipt so people people know where the 12.25% comes from.
I might add that there are "innkeepers" out there charging zero taxes by saying they're just renting out their spare bedroom and not really a business. Bogus of course, but they're doing it.

We collect state Lodging Tax, currently at 7% (but proposals to raise it to 10% are under consideration at the State legislature). No municipal or county taxes (yet).
Any merchandise we sell is subject to state Sales Tax, at 5% (again, no municipal or county taxes).

Aleben said:

Eric Arthur Blair said:

Tourism tax on the room only. On top of the total including tourism tax, federal tax and then state/provincial tax. But on something other than the rooms, just the federal tax and state/provincial tax.
I also have to partially pay commercial property tax on my property. And of course our own person income taxes on our income..

Click to expand...

I appreciate your response. Interesting to read about your compound taxes. May I ask if you use software to manage your reservations, and if so, does it work perfectly with your tax setup? E.g. Can it calculate federal tax and state/provincial tax based on the 'room rate + tourism tax' instead of just on the room rate alone?
.

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Well, we have set it up in a way that it calculates the taxes on the room. No problem with add-on items. The parking is a bit more difficult because the software handles it as a room, so we discount the price to compensate for the tourism tax.

I won I have the lowest 5.725!

Sorry Ice, I win! I've got just a 1% state lodging tax.

Breakfast Diva said:

Sorry Ice, I win! I've got just a 1% state lodging tax..

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Breakfast Diva said:

Sorry Ice, I win! I've got just a 1% state lodging tax..

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Does this mean that I lose? The total of my taxes on the room is 18.999125%

Aleben,
Why do you ask?

In Michigan we have a 6% sales tax on rooms and gift shop items and a 2% Convention and Visitors Bureau assessment. Pays fro our wonderful Pure Michigan campaign. That assessment needs to be collected in all establishments that have 10 or more rooms. Small Inns are exempt

Arkansawyer said:

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days).

Click to expand...

Arkansawyer said:

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days)

Click to expand...

Holy smokes. That's dizzying

IrisoftheWayfarer said:

Arkansawyer said:

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days).

Click to expand...

Arkansawyer said:

Arkansas
Taxes are on all stays, same for all people, except where indicated below
6.00% state sales tax (going to 6.50% July 1)
2.00% state tourism tax
1.25% county sales tax
1.00% city sales tax
2.00% city advertising and promotion tax (does not apply on stays over 30 days)

Click to expand...

Holy smokes. That's dizzying
.

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IrisoftheWayfarer said:

Holy smokes. That's dizzying

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Yes, and I'm sure they're trying to come up with other ones to tack on! It always sounds like such a minor thing. Just a penny or two. But they add up!

Breakfast Diva said:

Sorry Ice, I win! I've got just a 1% state lodging tax..

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Nope. I pay 0% lodging tax. B+B's with 3 or fewer rooms do not have to collect the 5.7% state tax or any local room tax. Sure does help on the paperwork side of the business. My rates are "all inclusive, with no additional tax, tip or fees".