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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Kansas 2026: TOT Rates By City
Kansas exempts long-term guests from its transient guest tax after just 28 consecutive days, not the 30 most states use, but the state's own sales tax never lets up, no matter how long someone stays.
August 28, 2026
8
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TL;DR
- Kansas's local lodging tax is called the transient guest tax (TGT), layered on top of the state's 6.5% sales tax
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," and "bed tax" all describe the same charge on Kansas short-term stays
- The exemption threshold is 28 consecutive days, not the 30-day rule most states use
- That exemption applies only to the TGT: Kansas's 6.5% sales tax still applies no matter how long a stay lasts
- The base statutory TGT cap is just 2%, but home-rule cities like Overland Park charge as much as 9%
- All TGT filings go straight to the state on Form TG-1, even though every city and county sets its own rate
- Wichita adds a separate 2.75% tourism fee on top of its 6% TGT rather than folding it into one combined rate
- Lawrence and Topeka both recently raised their TGT rates, one ahead of 2026 World Cup travel demand, the other tied to a city-owned hotel
How Kansas's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Kansas taxes short-term lodging two ways at once. The state's 6.5% sales tax applies to every room rental with no length-of-stay exception, while a separate transient guest tax (TGT), authorized under K.S.A. 12-1692 and following sections, can be added by any city or county and drops off once a stay passes 28 consecutive days.
The base statutory TGT cap is only 2%, but most cities that actually levy the tax do so at a much higher rate using home-rule charter ordinances that override the default cap entirely. That's why a hotel guest can owe anywhere from a few percent to 9% in local TGT depending on which city's charter ordinance applies, on top of the state and local sales tax that never varies by length of stay.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
TGT rates vary widely by city because each one sets its own rate through its own ordinance. The table below covers six of Kansas's largest lodging markets plus the statutory baseline.
| City / county | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Overland Park | 9% transient guest tax | Raised in steps from 1% in 1982 to 9% in 2007; partly repays development bond debt |
| Lawrence | 8% transient guest tax (as of January 1, 2026) | Raised from 6%, timed ahead of expected 2026 FIFA World Cup travel to the Kansas City region |
| Topeka | 7% transient guest tax, rising to 8.5% on January 1, 2027 | Increase approved in 2026 partly to help recoup city costs tied to Hotel Topeka |
| Salina | 7.75% transient guest tax | Effective since October 2021 in the Downtown STAR bond redevelopment district |
| Manhattan | 7.5% transient guest tax | Climbed in steps from 6% in 2010 to 7.5% in 2019 |
| Wichita | 6% transient guest tax + 2.75% tourism fee | The tourism fee has applied as a separate line item since 2015 |
| Cities without a home-rule increase | Up to 2% transient guest tax under K.S.A. 12-1692 | The uniform statutory cap for any city or county that hasn't adopted a higher home-rule rate |
Collection and Remittance
Unlike states where individual cities run their own hotel tax office, every Kansas transient guest tax return goes to the same place: the Kansas Department of Revenue, on Form TG-1, generally due monthly by the 25th of the following month. Businesses that already file sales tax on an annual or quarterly basis can request permission to file TGT on that same schedule instead.
The state then redistributes the collected TGT back to the city or county treasurer that levied it, on a quarterly basis, so the local jurisdiction never touches the tax directly even though it set the rate.
Exemptions From Kansas's Hotel Tax
Kansas law recognizes only two exemptions from the transient guest tax: a room rented to the same person or entity for more than 28 consecutive days, and a room billed directly to the federal government. Once a stay crosses the 28-day line, the guest is no longer considered a "transient guest" under K.S.A. 12-1692(c) and the TGT stops applying.
That exemption does not carry over to the state's 6.5% sales tax, however. Every hotel room rental in Kansas is subject to sales tax regardless of how long the guest stays, so a 60-day corporate stay still owes sales tax on every night even after the TGT exemption kicks in.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Assuming the 28-day exemption also waives sales tax. It doesn't. Kansas's long-stay exemption only removes the local transient guest tax; the 6.5% state sales tax still applies to every night of a stay of any length.
- Filing transient guest tax with the city instead of the state. Even though the rate is set locally, every TGT return in Kansas goes to the Department of Revenue on Form TG-1, not to the city or county.
- Using 30 days as the exemption threshold out of habit. Kansas's cutoff is 28 consecutive days, two days shorter than the 30-day rule common in neighboring states, so a stay booked for exactly 29 or 30 nights can be handled incorrectly if a property defaults to the more common number.
- Missing that a rate just changed. Lawrence moved from 6% to 8% effective January 1, 2026, and Topeka is scheduled to move from 7% to 8.5% on January 1, 2027, changes that a property's tax settings need to catch on the effective date, not whenever someone notices.
- Treating Wichita's tourism fee as part of its transient guest tax. The 2.75% tourism fee is a separate charge layered on top of the 6% TGT, not a component folded into a single combined rate.
- Assuming every Kansas city taxes lodging at all. The statutory default is a mere 2% cap, and plenty of smaller cities never adopt a home-rule ordinance to raise it, so a multi-property operator can't assume every location even has a meaningful local rate.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
A property management system tracking Kansas locations needs to separate two distinct rules: the 28-day cutoff that only applies to local transient guest tax, and the state sales tax that keeps applying regardless of stay length. The right PMS can also route TGT filings correctly to the state rather than the city, keep a separate line for add-on charges like Wichita's tourism fee, and flag scheduled rate changes like Lawrence's and Topeka's before their effective dates arrive.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Kansas have a statewide hotel tax rate?
No single statewide hotel-specific rate exists beyond the 6.5% state sales tax that applies to lodging everywhere. Any additional transient guest tax is set city by city or county by county, ranging from a 2% statutory default up to 9% in cities like Overland Park.
2. What is Kansas's hotel tax?
Kansas's hotel tax is called the transient guest tax (TGT), authorized under K.S.A. 12-1692 and following sections. It's set locally by each city or county and layered on top of the state's 6.5% sales tax, which applies separately and without any length-of-stay exception.
3. What is Kansas's lodging tax?
"Lodging tax" is another name for the same charge as Kansas's hotel tax, occupancy tax, or bed tax, referring to the local transient guest tax combined with the state sales tax that applies to short-term stays.
4. How long does a guest have to stay before they're exempt from Kansas's hotel tax?
28 consecutive days, two days shorter than the 30-day threshold used in many other states. Once a guest passes that mark, they're no longer a "transient guest" under Kansas law and the local transient guest tax stops applying, though the state sales tax does not.
5. Does Kansas require hotels to disclose all fees upfront?
Kansas does not have a lodging-specific, all-in pricing law requiring hotels to display one combined nightly rate before booking. Add-on charges such as Wichita's separate tourism fee can be shown as their own line item rather than folded into an advertised rate.
6. Who is responsible for filing Kansas's hotel tax?
The hotel, motel, or short-term rental operator collecting payment must file the transient guest tax, but unlike many states, every filing goes to the Kansas Department of Revenue on Form TG-1 rather than to the city or county, even though the rate itself is set locally.
7. Why does a long-term guest in Kansas still pay tax even after 28 days?
Because Kansas's 28-day exemption only applies to the local transient guest tax. The state's 6.5% sales tax has no length-of-stay exception at all, so a guest who stops owing TGT after 28 consecutive days still owes sales tax on every night of the stay, however long it runs.
