Hotel Taxes and Guest Rights After 30 Days in Texas

The state tax: 6 percent, then zero after 30 days

Texas charges a 6 percent state hotel occupancy tax on the price of a hotel room. The Comptroller's office collects it.

Guests who occupy a room for at least 30 consecutive days count as permanent residents and are exempt from the state tax. The mechanics matter:

• Tell the hotel in writing, before or when your stay begins, that you plan to stay 30 days or more. The exemption then applies from the day you notify the hotel.
• Without written notice, you pay the state tax for the first 30 days and are exempt from day 31 on.
• Any interruption in the stay voids the exemption.
• The Comptroller notes that some hotels collect the tax even after written notice, because the hotel is liable if the guest leaves before day 30. In that case the hotel later gives the guest a refund or credit.

What that means in money: on a room at $100 a night, the 6 percent state tax is $6 a night. Over nights 1 to 30 of a 60-night stay, qualifying from day one keeps about $180 in your pocket, and the full back half of the stay carries no state tax at all. This is an illustrative example, not a quote.

What the cities add

Cities, counties and special districts in Texas can charge their own local hotel taxes on top of the state's 6 percent. The Comptroller gives these general bounds: local hotel taxes generally run up to 7 percent, sports and community venue projects up to 2 percent, and Dallas County can impose a venue hotel tax of up to 3 percent. Local hotel taxes apply only to rooms ordinarily used for sleeping.

Each city collects and administers its own tax, so the exact handling of a 30-plus-night stay can differ from the state rule. The practical move: before you book, ask the hotel for the full monthly total with all taxes shown, and ask how it treats the city tax after day 30.

Your rights as a 30-plus-night guest

• The state exemption is yours once you qualify. It is not a favor the hotel can choose to skip: permanent residents are exempt under the state's hotel tax rules.
• Claim it in writing. A short note or email to the front desk at check-in stating your planned length of stay starts the exemption from that day.
• Keep every folio and receipt. If state tax appears on your bill after you qualified, ask the hotel for a refund or credit; the Comptroller's FAQ describes this refund-or-credit handling directly.
• Some entities (certain government officials, diplomats, and specific exempt organizations with a Comptroller letter) have separate exemptions with their own paperwork. If that is you, the Comptroller's FAQ and Form 12-302 cover the process.

One boundary to know: this article covers hotel taxes only. Questions like tenant rights, eviction and deposits in long hotel stays are a separate legal topic that these tax pages do not answer, and we do not guess at them.

What to do before you book

• Get the monthly rate and what it includes in writing.
• Ask for the full total with state and local taxes shown separately.
• Say in writing that you plan to stay 30 days or more, and keep a copy.
• Ask how the hotel handles the city tax after day 30 and what happens to taxes if you shorten or extend the stay.

What next

Browse Texas hotels that take stays of 30 nights or more on Monthly-Hotels.com and send your dates through the Request dates form. We forward your request to hotels in the area you pick.