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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Dallas 2026: TOT Rate And Rules
Dallas layers a 9% city hotel tax, raised from 7% by a 2022 ballot vote, on top of the 6% state tax, and hotels with 100 or more rooms add a separate 2% tourism assessment on top of that.
August 28, 2026
8
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TL;DR
- Dallas hotel stays carry a combined 15% tax: 6% Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax plus 9% City of Dallas Hotel Occupancy Tax.
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," and "bed tax" all refer to the same charge on transient stays.
- The city's 9% rate is up from 7%, after Dallas voters approved Proposition A in November 2022 to fund a new convention center and Fair Park renovations.
- Hotels with 100 or more rooms also collect a separate 2% Tourism Public Improvement District assessment, bringing their total to 17%.
- Stays of 30 consecutive days or more, with a written letter of intent on file, are exempt from Dallas's hotel tax.
- Dallas offers a 1% discount for filing and paying by the 15th due date, not just penalties for filing late.
- A 2023 ordinance banning short-term rentals in single-family zones remains blocked by a court injunction, unenforced even through the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- Short-term rental hosts must register with the city, separate from state and county requirements, before listing a property.
How Dallas's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Dallas hotel guests pay a combined 15% tax: 6% Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax plus a 9% City of Dallas Hotel Occupancy Tax, the city portion raised from 7% by voters in 2022 specifically to fund a new convention center and Fair Park renovations.
The state tax is authorized under Texas Tax Code Chapter 156, and the city tax under Dallas City Code Article V, Hotel Occupancy Tax. Dallas's 2022 increase relied on a 2021 state law carve-out that, for the first time, let a city direct hotel tax revenue toward Fair Park, a use state law otherwise restricts. Hotels with 100 or more rooms inside city limits also collect a separate 2% Tourism Public Improvement District assessment on top of the tax, which is not part of the Hotel Occupancy Tax itself.
These charges apply to hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and short-term rentals inside Dallas city limits, covering any stay under 30 consecutive days. Dormitories and other housing owned or operated by a college or university are not treated as hotels under the city code and fall outside this tax entirely.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
Dallas layers a state tax, a city tax, and, for larger hotels, a separate guest-paid assessment. None of these three pieces has moved in lockstep with the others, so a rate a hotel learned five years ago may already be wrong.
| Tax component | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax | 6% | Applies statewide to hotels, motels, and short-term rentals |
| City of Dallas Hotel Occupancy Tax | 9% | Raised from 7% by voter-approved Proposition A in November 2022 |
| Combined base hotel tax | 15% | Applies to all Dallas hotel and short-term rental stays |
| Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District assessment | 2% | Guest-paid assessment on hotels with 100 or more rooms; funds destination marketing, not a general tax |
| Total for a 100+ room Dallas hotel | 17% | 15% combined tax plus the 2% TPID assessment; smaller hotels stop at 15% |
The Tourism Public Improvement District assessment is a genuinely separate charge from the tax above it, both legally and in what it funds. Dallas created the district in 2012, the first major Texas city to do so, and it has been renewed through September 2029. Its revenue can only go toward tourism marketing and sales incentives, by law it cannot pay staff salaries or general city expenses, which is a meaningfully different funding purpose than the Hotel Occupancy Tax that funded the convention center project.
Because the TPID only applies to hotels with 100 or more rooms, two hotels a block apart in downtown Dallas can legitimately charge different total tax percentages on an identical room rate, one at 15% and the other at 17%, depending only on room count.
Collection and Remittance
Guests pay both the Hotel Occupancy Tax and, where it applies, the TPID assessment as part of the total charged for the room. The hotel or short-term rental operator is responsible for collecting and remitting both to the City of Dallas, using the same reporting process and the same monthly schedule for each.
Reports and payments are due by the 15th of the month following the month collected, and a report must be filed even in a month with no tax due. Dallas is one of the few cities in this cluster that rewards early filing rather than only penalizing late filing: a report postmarked by the 15th earns a 1% discount off the tax due. Filing 1 to 10 days late forfeits that discount but adds no penalty; filing 11 to 30 days late adds a 15% penalty; filing more than 30 days late adds the 15% penalty plus 10% annual interest starting the day after the due date.
Short-term rental platforms do not remit Dallas's city Hotel Occupancy Tax uniformly on a host's behalf. Hosts remain responsible for registering their property with the city, filing their own monthly report, and remitting the tax unless they have separately confirmed their platform handles it for Dallas specifically.
Exemptions From Dallas's Hotel Tax
A guest who has the right to use or possess a room for at least 30 consecutive days, without an interruption in payment, qualifies for a permanent exemption from Dallas's Hotel Occupancy Tax, but only after providing the hotel a written letter of intent to stay 30 consecutive days or more. The exemption is not automatic just because a stay happens to run that long after the fact.
A separate certificate exemption applies to guests affiliated with specific exempt entities who present a Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 12-302) from the state Comptroller. Dallas is explicit that an entity's state-level exemption does not automatically carry over to the city tax, so a hotel needs to confirm an entity is exempt from the city portion specifically, not assume state and city exemptions always match.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Quoting the pre-2022 rate. Dallas's city Hotel Occupancy Tax moved from 7% to 9% after Proposition A passed in November 2022. A hotel still calculating a 13% combined rate instead of 15% is undercollecting on every folio.
- Forgetting the TPID assessment applies only above 100 rooms. A hotel that grows past the 100-room threshold, or a management company that assumes all its Dallas properties owe the same total percentage, can miss the extra 2% that only kicks in at that size.
- Leaving the early-payment discount on the table. Dallas's 1% discount for a report postmarked by the 15th is easy to miss if a hotel's process treats the due date as just a deadline rather than an incentive.
- Treating a long stay as automatically exempt. The 30-day permanent exemption requires a written letter of intent from the guest before the exemption applies, not just a stay that happens to run 30 days or longer.
- Assuming a state tax exemption covers the city tax too. Dallas explicitly separates state Hotel Occupancy Tax exemptions from city exemptions; an entity exempt at the state level still needs to qualify for the city's certificate exemption on its own terms.
- Assuming Dallas's short-term rental ban is in effect. Dallas passed an ordinance in 2023 banning short-term rentals from single-family zoning, but a court injunction has blocked its enforcement since December 2023, and it remained blocked through the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite the city petitioning the Texas Supreme Court to lift it. A host or PMS assuming the ban applies today is working from the wrong legal status.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
None of this is about software first. It is about getting Dallas's layered rate right, tracking which properties cross the 100-room TPID threshold, and not missing a filing window that actually pays a hotel back for filing on time. A property management system like roommaster lets a hotel configure the state tax, the city tax, and the TPID assessment as separate line items, so a rate change to any one of them, the way the city tax changed in 2022, does not require rebuilding the whole setup, and its revenue reports by date range make it straightforward to hit the 15th and capture Dallas's early-filing discount. A booking engine that displays the full taxed total upfront also keeps guests from being surprised by Dallas's combined rate at checkout.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Dallas have its own hotel tax rate?
Yes. Dallas charges its own 9% city Hotel Occupancy Tax on top of the 6% Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax, for a combined 15%. Hotels with 100 or more rooms also collect a separate 2% Tourism Public Improvement District assessment.
2. What is Dallas's hotel tax?
Dallas's hotel tax is a combined 15% charge on hotel, motel, and short-term rental stays: 6% Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax plus 9% City of Dallas Hotel Occupancy Tax. The city rate rose from 7% after voters approved Proposition A in November 2022.
3. What is Dallas's lodging tax?
Lodging tax is another name for the same charge as Dallas's hotel tax. Hotel tax, lodging tax, occupancy tax, and bed tax all describe the same combined 15% assessed on hotel and short-term rental stays in Dallas.
4. How long does a stay need to be to qualify for Dallas's long-term exemption?
A guest needs the right to use or possess a room for at least 30 consecutive days, without an interruption in payment, and must give the hotel a written letter of intent to stay that long before the exemption applies.
5. Does Dallas require hotels to disclose mandatory fees upfront?
Dallas does not have its own ordinance requiring all-in price disclosure. Federal rules that took effect in 2025 require short-term lodging bookings nationwide, including in Dallas, to show the total price, including mandatory fees, before a guest completes a booking.
6. Who is responsible for filing Dallas's hotel tax return?
The hotel or short-term rental operator is responsible for collecting the tax from guests and filing a monthly report with the City of Dallas, due by the 15th of the following month, even in months with no tax due.
7. Is Dallas's short-term rental ban on single-family neighborhoods in effect?
No. Dallas passed an ordinance in 2023 banning short-term rentals from single-family zoning, but a court injunction has blocked the city from enforcing it since December 2023. The city asked the Texas Supreme Court to lift the block ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the ban remained unenforceable through the tournament.
