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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Houston 2026: TOT Rate And Rules
Houston stacks six separate charges, four percentage taxes plus a flat per-room fee, for a combined 17% hotel tax burden, the highest of any major Texas city, and its first-ever short-term rental law only took effect in January 2026.
August 28, 2026
8
min. read
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TL;DR
- Houston hotel stays carry a combined 17% tax: 6% state, 7% city, 2% Harris County, and 2% for the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.
- On top of the 17%, Houston adds a flat $2-per-room-per-night Sports Facility Fee that does not scale with room rate.
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," and "bed tax" all refer to the same charge on transient stays.
- Houston dedicates 19.3% of its city Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, the maximum Texas law allows, to the arts through the Houston Arts Alliance.
- The 2% Sports Authority tax helps retire roughly $1 billion in bonds for NRG Stadium, Daikin Park, and Toyota Center.
- Stays of 30 or more consecutive days are exempt from all four percentage taxes.
- Houston's city and county Hotel Occupancy Tax filings are due quarterly, not monthly, a different cadence than many other cities.
- Houston had no citywide short-term rental ordinance at all until Ordinance 2025-322 took effect January 1, 2026.
How Houston's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Houston stacks four separate percentage taxes plus a flat nightly fee for a combined hotel tax burden of 17% and $2 per room per night: 6% Texas state tax, 7% City of Houston tax, 2% Harris County tax, and 2% for the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.
The state and city portions are authorized under Texas Tax Code Chapter 351, the county portion under Chapter 352, and the Sports Authority's 2% under Chapter 334, the state's Sports and Community Venues law. Houston First Corporation collects and administers the city's 7% on the city's behalf, while the Harris County Tax Office separately collects the county's 2% and the Sports Authority's 2%. On top of all four percentage taxes, City Code Section 31-131(c) adds a flat Sports Facility Fee of $2 per room per night, a charge that does not scale with room rate the way the rest of the tax does.
These charges apply to hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and short-term rentals renting for $2 or more per day within Houston, and they apply whether the stay is booked directly or through a platform. Houston had no citywide short-term rental ordinance at all until January 1, 2026, so for years the tax question was the only regulatory question a Houston host needed to answer; that changed with the city's first STR-specific law.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
No other city in this comparison stacks quite as many separate percentage taxes as Houston, and Houston is the only one of the five that adds a flat per-room-per-night fee on top of the percentages.
| Tax component | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax | 6% | Applies statewide; a portion funds tourism promotion, the rest goes to general revenue |
| City of Houston Hotel Occupancy Tax | 7% | Collected by Houston First Corporation; up to 19.3% of this revenue, the legal maximum, funds the arts |
| Harris County Hotel Occupancy Tax | 2% | Collected by the Harris County Tax Office |
| Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Tax | 2% | Funds bonds for NRG Stadium, Daikin Park, and Toyota Center |
| Combined percentage total | 17% | Sum of the four taxes above |
| Houston Sports Facility Fee | $2 per room per night | Flat fee under City Code Sec. 31-131(c); charged in addition to the 17%, not a percentage of room rate |
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority's 2% is not a general tourism tax; it is a dedicated revenue stream created to retire roughly $1 billion in bonds issued to build NRG Stadium, Daikin Park (the ballpark long known as Minute Maid Park), and Toyota Center. Meanwhile, the city's own 7% quietly funds one of the largest municipal arts programs in the country: for decades, Houston has dedicated 19.3% of its Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, the maximum share Texas law allows a city to spend on the arts, to the Houston Arts Alliance, which recently received a contract worth up to $130 million over five to seven years.
Because the flat $2 Sports Facility Fee does not move with the room rate, it makes up a larger share of the total tax bill on a budget room than on a luxury suite, which is worth flagging to guests booking lower-priced rooms who expect every charge to scale with price.
Collection and Remittance
Guests pay all four percentage taxes and the flat Sports Facility Fee as part of the total charged at checkout. The hotel or short-term rental operator collects and remits the city's 7% to Houston First Corporation, and the county's 2% plus the Sports Authority's 2% to the Harris County Tax Office, separately from the state's 6%.
Unlike some cities that require monthly filing, Houston's city and county Hotel Occupancy Tax reports and payments are due quarterly, by the last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. An operator used to a monthly cadence from another market can easily miss Houston's quarterly deadline the first year.
Online travel agencies and short-term rental platforms do not uniformly collect and remit Houston's city and county taxes on a host's behalf. Hosts are responsible for registering directly with Houston First Corporation and the Harris County Tax Office unless they have confirmed their specific platform handles Houston's local taxes for them.
Exemptions From Houston's Hotel Tax
A guest with the right to use or possess a room for 30 or more consecutive days, without an interruption in payment, qualifies for a permanent exemption from Houston's hotel taxes. As with the rest of Texas, this exemption is not automatic; it depends on the guest's continuous occupancy and the hotel's own records supporting it.
A separate certificate exemption is available to guests affiliated with qualifying exempt organizations who present a Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 12-302). Because Houston's tax is really four separate taxes collected by two different agencies, a hotel needs to confirm an exemption applies to the city portion, the county and Sports Authority portions, and the state portion; an exemption recognized by one collecting agency does not automatically clear all four.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Quoting 13% instead of the full 17%. Some general sources describe Houston's hotel tax as just the 6% state plus 7% city total, leaving out the county's 2% and the Sports Authority's 2%. A hotel remitting only 13% is under-collecting by 4 percentage points on every stay.
- Forgetting the flat Sports Facility Fee. The $2-per-room-per-night charge under City Code Sec. 31-131(c) is easy to miss because it is not a percentage like everything else in Houston's tax stack.
- Filing on a monthly schedule out of habit. Houston's city and county Hotel Occupancy Tax is due quarterly, not monthly. A hotel management company running properties across Texas cities on a single monthly filing calendar can miss Houston's actual due dates.
- Sending city tax and county tax to the same office. Houston First Corporation and the Harris County Tax Office are two separate collecting agencies for two separate portions of the tax; a payment sent to the wrong one does not count as filed with the other.
- Assuming an exemption certificate clears all four tax components. A Form 12-302 exemption needs to be honored correctly against the state, city, county, and Sports Authority portions individually, since two different agencies administer them.
- Operating a short-term rental as if Houston still has no rules. Houston had no citywide short-term rental ordinance until Ordinance 2025-322 took effect January 1, 2026, requiring registration, a $1 million liability insurance minimum, and an occupancy cap. A host still operating on the old assumption that Houston has no STR rules is now out of compliance.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
None of this is about software first. It is about a hotel correctly separating four different tax authorities and one flat fee, then filing each on the right calendar. A property management system like roommaster lets a hotel configure the state tax, city tax, county tax, Sports Authority tax, and the flat Sports Facility Fee as distinct line items rather than one blended percentage, which matters in a market where two different agencies collect different pieces on a quarterly, not monthly, cycle. Its revenue reports by date range make it easier to reconcile what is owed to Houston First Corporation versus the Harris County Tax Office each quarter, and a booking engine that shows the full taxed total upfront, flat fee included, keeps guests from being surprised at checkout.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Houston have its own hotel tax rate?
Yes. Houston charges a 7% city Hotel Occupancy Tax on top of the 6% Texas state tax, and Harris County adds its own 2% plus a 2% Harris County-Houston Sports Authority tax, for a combined 17%, plus a flat $2-per-room-per-night Sports Facility Fee.
2. What is Houston's hotel tax?
Houston's hotel tax is a combined 17% charge made up of 6% Texas state tax, 7% City of Houston tax, 2% Harris County tax, and 2% Harris County-Houston Sports Authority tax, plus a separate flat $2 per room per night Sports Facility Fee.
3. What is Houston's lodging tax?
Lodging tax is another name for the same charge as Houston's hotel tax. Hotel tax, lodging tax, occupancy tax, and bed tax all refer to the same combined 17% (plus the flat per-night fee) assessed on hotel and short-term rental stays in Houston.
4. How long does a stay need to be to qualify for Houston's long-term exemption?
A guest needs the right to use or possess a room for 30 or more consecutive days, without an interruption in payment, to qualify for a permanent exemption from Houston's state, city, county, and Sports Authority hotel taxes.
5. Does Houston require hotels to disclose mandatory fees upfront?
Houston 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 Houston, to show the total price, including mandatory fees like the Sports Facility Fee, before a guest completes a booking.
6. Who is responsible for filing Houston's hotel tax return?
The hotel or short-term rental operator is responsible for collecting the tax from guests and filing quarterly with both Houston First Corporation, for the city's 7%, and the Harris County Tax Office, for the county's 2% and the Sports Authority's 2%, by the last day of the month following each quarter.
7. Does Houston's hotel tax fund its sports stadiums?
Part of it does. The 2% Harris County-Houston Sports Authority tax was created to help retire roughly $1 billion in bonds issued to build NRG Stadium, Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid Park), and Toyota Center, separately from the 7% city portion that funds the arts.
