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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Michigan 2026: TOT Rates By City
Michigan has no state hotel tax line item, lodging is just part of general use tax, and raising a county rate above 5% needs a public vote. See 2026 rates by county.
August 28, 2026
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TL;DR
- Michigan has no dedicated statewide hotel or occupancy tax; lodging under 30 days is simply taxed as part of the general 6% Use Tax, the same tax that applies to mail-order purchases.
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," "bed tax," and "lodging excise tax" all describe the separate county-level charges that layer on top of that general use tax.
- County lodging excise tax historically capped at 5%, but a 2024 state law lets counties raise it to 8% with voter approval, and two counties already have.
- The long-stay exemption is defined precisely as 30 days or the calendar month of the stay, whichever is shorter, meaning a February stay can qualify for exemption before hitting 30 nights.
- Michigan's Headlee Amendment functions as the state's rough equivalent to a voter-approval requirement for local tax increases.
- No Michigan fee-transparency law was found; only the federal FTC rule currently applies.
- Filing cadence is set locally by each county, not by one statewide rule.
How Michigan's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Michigan doesn't have a dedicated hotel or lodging tax at the state level. Stays under 30 days are simply taxed under the state's general 6% Use Tax, the same law that applies to out-of-state purchases and vehicle transfers, there's no separate state-level line item most other states have. Counties layer their own separate lodging excise tax on top under a patchwork of different enabling acts.
There's no blanket statewide voter-approval law like California's, but Michigan's 1978 Headlee Amendment functions as the general constitutional check on local tax increases statewide. More specifically for this tax, a 2024 state law now requires a countywide public vote before a qualifying county can raise its lodging excise tax above the historic 5% cap, and this has already happened twice: Kent County voters approved raising the rate to 8% in 2024, and Ingham County voters approved the same increase in 2026.
The tax generally applies to hotels, motels, and similar short-term lodging under 30 days, but the exact exemption cutoff has a real quirk worth knowing before assuming a flat 30-night rule.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
Because each county's lodging excise tax comes from its own separate enabling authority, and some regions layer additional convention or tourism marketing assessments, the total varies by location. Here's where the major Michigan markets stand as of 2026.
| County / area | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kent County (Grand Rapids) | 8% | Raised from 5% effective January 2025 after voters approved the increase in an August 2024 ballot measure |
| Ingham County (Lansing) | 8% | Raised from a rate in place since 1991, approved by voters in August 2026 |
| Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti) | 5% | Raised from 2% in 2008; revenue splits between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area visitor bureaus |
| Genesee County (Flint) | 5% | Applies to stays of 29 days or fewer |
| Muskegon County | 5% | Adopted in late 2013, applying to stays of 30 nights or fewer |
| Grand Traverse County (Traverse City) | 5% | Applies only to operators managing more than 10 units; a citizen petition was active as of mid-2026 to redirect revenue toward infrastructure |
| Wayne, Oakland & Macomb Counties (Detroit metro, 35+ room hotels) | 3.5%, rising to 4% in 2031 | A separate convention and tourism marketing assessment stacking on top of the county excise tax and state use tax; the future step-up is already fixed in statute |
| Detroit-area qualified convention hotels (160+ rooms) | 6% | A tiered state convention facility development tax; smaller 81-160 room hotels or those outside the qualified area pay a different rate |
Rates change after a county ordinance or voter-approved ballot measure, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm the current published rate with the specific county before filing.
Michigan's version of a tourism district works differently than California's: rather than a city adopting a business-improvement district, the Community Convention or Tourism Marketing Act lets an eligible nonprofit tourist bureau levy up to 2% or more on hotel rooms in a defined district, but only after a referendum of the hotel and motel owners in that district themselves, an industry self-assessment vote, not a general public one.
Collection and Remittance
The guest pays the tax, and the property remits it, but the filing cadence is set locally by each county, not by one statewide rule. Kent County requires monthly remittance by default, due the 15th of the following month, with quarterly filing available only by special request. Muskegon County offers either monthly or quarterly filing. The separate State Convention Facility Development Tax is filed monthly, due the 20th, through the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Exemptions From Michigan's Hotel Tax
Michigan defines its exemption threshold with unusual precision: a stay qualifies once it reaches "30 days or the calendar month of the rental period, whichever is shorter." That means a stay spanning all of February, which has only 28 or 29 days, can qualify for the exemption before reaching a full 30 nights, a genuine deviation from the flat 30-day rule most properties assume.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Looking for a separate state hotel tax line. Michigan doesn't have one, lodging under 30 days is taxed as part of the general use tax, not a dedicated hotel tax statute.
- Applying a flat 30-day exemption rule. The actual threshold uses whichever is shorter, 30 days or the calendar month, a February stay can qualify sooner than a March one.
- Assuming a county rate is capped at 5%. Kent and Ingham Counties have both already raised their rate to 8% through voter-approved ballot measures.
- Confusing the hotel-owner referendum with a public vote. Tourism marketing assessments under the Community Convention Act are approved by hotel and motel owners themselves, a different process than the countywide public vote required for the base excise tax increase.
- Missing a scheduled future rate step-up. The Detroit-area convention and tourism marketing assessment is already legislated to rise again in 2031, worth tracking ahead of that date.
- Not retraining front desk staff after a voter-approved increase. When a county rate changes, as Kent's and Ingham's both recently did, staff quoting the old number to walk-in guests creates disputes at checkout.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
None of the above is about software. It's about a Michigan property tracking which county-specific excise tax and any additional convention or tourism marketing assessment actually apply to it, and applying the calendar-month exemption rule correctly rather than a flat 30 days. Where a PMS actually helps is in keeping each layer configured as its own tax code, and pulling revenue reports by date range for whichever filing cadence that county requires. roommaster lets properties configure tax codes per rate, so a voter-approved county increase is a configuration update once, not a manual recalculation on every folio.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Michigan have a statewide hotel tax rate?
Not a dedicated one. Lodging under 30 days is taxed as part of Michigan's general 6% Use Tax, and counties add their own separate lodging excise tax on top, typically 5% to 8%.
2. What is Michigan's hotel tax?
Michigan's hotel tax is really a county-level lodging excise tax, layered on top of the general state use tax that applies to lodging along with many other kinds of purchases.
3. What is Michigan's lodging tax?
Lodging tax is the same charge as Michigan's county lodging excise tax, just a different common name for it, not a separate statewide figure.
4. How long can a guest stay in Michigan before the hotel tax stops applying?
Whichever is shorter: 30 days, or the calendar month the stay falls in. A stay through all of February can qualify for exemption before reaching a full 30 nights.
5. Do Michigan voters have to approve hotel tax increases?
For counties raising their rate above the historic 5% cap, yes, a countywide public vote is required, and both Kent and Ingham Counties have already passed one.
6. Does Michigan require hotels to disclose the total price before booking?
No Michigan-specific law requiring this was found. Only the federal FTC rule, which applies nationwide, currently requires total-price disclosure.
7. Who is responsible for collecting and remitting Michigan's hotel tax?
The property collects the county excise tax and state use tax from the guest and remits them separately, on a schedule set by each county, monthly in most cases.
