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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Indiana 2026: TOT Rates By City
Indiana has no single statewide hotel tax rate. Instead, 92 counties each set their own County Innkeeper's Tax on top of the state's 7% sales tax, so two hotels a few counties apart can owe very different totals.
August 28, 2026
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TL;DR
- Indiana's lodging tax is called the County Innkeeper's Tax (CIT) and is layered on top of the state's flat 7% sales tax
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," and "bed tax" all refer to the same charge on short-term stays
- There is no single statewide CIT rate: each of Indiana's 92 counties sets its own by ordinance, from 5% to 10%
- Stays of 30 consecutive days or more are exempt, but the exemption often works as a refund, not an upfront waiver
- Marion County (Indianapolis) charges 10% CIT, the highest county rate in the state, for a combined 17% with state sales tax
- Hamilton County's 8% CIT is split by statute: 5 points for marketing and promotion, 3 points for capital improvements
- CIT revenue is earmarked directly to fund each county's convention and visitors bureau
- Filing is monthly, with the state sales tax portion and the county CIT portion typically filed as separate returns
How Indiana's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Indiana doesn't set one statewide hotel tax rate. Instead, the state layers a flat 7% sales tax on every short-term stay, then lets each of its 92 counties add its own County Innkeeper's Tax (CIT) by local ordinance, so what a guest pays in Marion County looks nothing like what they pay in Tippecanoe County.
Twenty counties, including Marion, Allen, Vanderburgh, Vigo, and Hamilton, have their own dedicated statutory chapter under Indiana Code Title 6, Article 9, letting them set rates and use restrictions that differ from every other county. Any county without its own chapter can still adopt CIT under the uniform chapter, IC 6-9-18, capped at 5%, purely by a vote of the county fiscal body. There is no requirement to put a lodging tax increase to a public referendum anywhere in the state.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
CIT rates run from 5% in counties under the uniform chapter up to 10% in Marion County. Add the state's flat 7% sales tax on top of the local CIT rate to get the total a guest pays at checkout. The table below covers nine of Indiana's most-visited counties.
| City / county | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis (Marion County) | 10% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 17% total | Highest county CIT rate in Indiana, set under IC 6-9-8 |
| Fort Wayne (Allen County) | 8% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 15% total | Raised from 7% to 8% by the county council in August 2019 |
| Evansville (Vanderburgh County) | 8% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 15% total | Funds the Evansville area convention and visitors bureau |
| Terre Haute (Vigo County) | 8% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 15% total | Raised from 5% to 8% under IC 6-9-11 |
| Carmel, Fishers, and Noblesville (Hamilton County) | 8% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 15% total | Effective January 1, 2024; revenue split 5 points marketing, 3 points capital improvements |
| South Bend (St. Joseph County) | 6% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 13% total | Rate has been unchanged since 1994 |
| Bloomington (Monroe County) | 5% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 12% total | Boosted in recent years by short-term rental growth |
| Gary, Hammond, and Merrillville (Lake County) | 5% CIT (up to 10% possible) + 7% state sales tax | County may add up to 5 more points by ordinance since June 30, 2023 |
| Lafayette and West Lafayette (Tippecanoe County) | 5% CIT + 7% state sales tax = 12% total | Amounts collected above 5% would fund a supplemental economic development account under IC 6-9-7 |
Collection and Remittance
Hotels, motels, and short-term rental hosts collect both the 7% state sales tax and the local CIT at the time of booking or checkout. The two are filed separately: the state sales tax portion goes on Form ST-103 through INTIME or INBiz, while the CIT portion is filed on a county-specific return that goes either to the county treasurer or to the Department of Revenue, depending on which point of collection that county's ordinance designates.
Both filings are generally due monthly, by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. Marketplace facilitators such as Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit on behalf of hosts in many counties, but the terms of that arrangement vary by platform and by county, so operators should confirm what is and isn't being handled for them.
Exemptions From Indiana's Hotel Tax
Indiana exempts stays of 30 consecutive days or more from both the state sales tax and county CIT. But the mechanism is unusual: if a guest is billed on anything less than a full monthly basis, the operator must still collect tax for the first 29 days. Only once the stay actually reaches 30 consecutive days does the guest become entitled to a refund of the tax already collected. There is no automatic upfront exemption for a guest who simply books 30 nights in advance under a nightly rate structure.
Other exemptions include lodging billed directly to the federal government for employees traveling on official business, and certain nonprofit or religious organizations that present a valid ST-105 exemption certificate at check-in.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Treating the 30-day exemption as automatic. Indiana requires tax to be collected for the first 29 days of any non-monthly stay, with a refund owed only after the guest actually reaches day 30.
- Assuming a single statewide CIT rate exists. A multi-property operator with hotels in Marion, Allen, and Tippecanoe counties is really managing three different local rates, three different statutory chapters, and in some cases three different filing destinations.
- Missing a county rate change. Allen County moved from 7% to 8% in 2019, Vigo County moved from 5% to 8%, and Hamilton County's 8% rate only took effect January 1, 2024, changes that don't always reach a property's tax setup automatically.
- Filing sales tax and CIT as a single combined return. The 7% state sales tax and the county CIT are separate taxes with separate returns and, in some counties, separate remittance destinations entirely.
- Assuming CIT registration carries over between counties. Because 20 counties operate under their own statutory chapter instead of the uniform IC 6-9-18 chapter, registration forms and county contacts differ property by property.
- Overlooking marketplace facilitator gaps. Hosts often assume Airbnb or Vrbo automatically remits both the state sales tax and the county CIT, but facilitator collection agreements are not uniform across every Indiana county.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
A property management system that tracks tax rates at the county level, rather than a single statewide default, keeps multi-property Indiana operators from misapplying a neighboring county's CIT rate. The right PMS can also apply Indiana's collect-then-refund logic for 30-day stays automatically, keep the state sales tax and county CIT filings separated on the books the way Indiana's own forms require, and flag a jurisdiction the moment its county council changes a rate, instead of leaving that discovery to an audit.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Indiana have a statewide hotel tax rate?
No. Indiana applies a flat 7% state sales tax to short-term lodging statewide, but the added lodging-specific tax, the County Innkeeper's Tax, is set individually by each of the state's 92 counties and ranges from 5% to 10%.
2. What is Indiana's hotel tax?
Indiana's hotel tax is the County Innkeeper's Tax (CIT), a local tax on rooms rented for less than 30 days that is layered on top of the state's 7% sales tax. Twenty counties set their own CIT rate under a dedicated statutory chapter, while other counties adopt CIT under the uniform chapter, IC 6-9-18, capped at 5%.
3. What is Indiana's lodging tax?
"Lodging tax" is another name for the same charge as Indiana's hotel tax, occupancy tax, or bed tax, all referring to the combination of the 7% state sales tax and the local County Innkeeper's Tax that applies to short-term stays.
4. How long does a guest have to stay before they're exempt from Indiana's hotel tax?
30 consecutive days. Below that threshold, both the state sales tax and county CIT apply. Notably, if a guest is billed less than monthly, tax must still be collected for the first 29 days, and the guest becomes entitled to a refund only once the stay reaches 30 consecutive days.
5. Does Indiana require hotels to disclose all fees upfront?
Indiana does not have a lodging-specific, all-in pricing law comparable to some other states. General state consumer protection rules against deceptive pricing still apply, but there is no statute requiring hotels to display a single all-inclusive nightly rate before booking.
6. Who is responsible for filing Indiana's hotel tax?
The operator collecting payment, whether a hotel, motel, or short-term rental host, is responsible for collecting and filing both the state sales tax (via Form ST-103) and the county CIT (via a county-specific return), typically on a monthly basis. Marketplace facilitators may file portions of this on a host's behalf under separate agreements.
7. Why do two Indiana hotels a few miles apart charge different tax rates?
Because Indiana's lodging tax is set county by county rather than statewide. A hotel just across a county line can be subject to an entirely different CIT rate, anywhere from 5% to 10%, along with different filing rules, simply because it sits in a different county's taxing jurisdiction.
