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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Phoenix 2026: TOT Rate And Rules
Phoenix's combined hotel tax climbed to 13.07% in mid-2025 when the city raised its base transaction privilege tax rate, on top of the existing 3% lodging tax and state and county TPT.
August 28, 2026
7
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TL;DR
- Phoenix hotels, motels, and short-term rentals collect a combined 13.07% tax: 5.5% Arizona state TPT, 1.77% Maricopa County excise tax (including its Prop. 302 stadium component), 2.8% Phoenix city TPT, and 3.0% Phoenix's additional transient lodging tax.
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," and "bed tax" all describe the same charge on a Phoenix stay; Phoenix's own code calls it the transient lodging tax.
- Phoenix raised its base city TPT rate from 2.3% to 2.8% under Ordinance G-7369, effective July 1, 2025, pushing the combined rate up from 12.57%.
- Stays of 30 consecutive days or longer are exempt from the transient lodging tax once the guest and operator document the extended-stay agreement.
- Since January 1, 2017, Phoenix's share of the tax has been filed and paid to the Arizona Department of Revenue alongside the state and county portions, not to the city directly.
- Phoenix short-term rental hosts need a city permit under Phoenix City Code Chapter 10 plus a state TPT license; unpermitted operation draws a $1,000-per-month fine.
- Bed tax collections help retire the $300 million in bonds Phoenix voters approved in 2001 to expand the Phoenix Convention Center.
How Phoenix's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Phoenix taxes hotel, motel, and short-term rental stays through Arizona's Transaction Privilege Tax system, stacking a city tax and a separate transient lodging tax on top of the state and Maricopa County TPT, for a combined 13.07% charge on stays under 30 days.
The tax is authorized under Arizona's Model City Tax Code and Title 42 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, which lets cities levy privilege taxes on specific business classifications. Phoenix classifies hotels under business code 044 and other transient lodging, including short-term rentals booked through platforms, under code 144. Both classifications carry the city's base rate plus an additional 3.0% transient lodging tax that funds tourism and convention infrastructure.
The combined rate applies to hotels, motels, resorts, bed and breakfasts, and short-term rentals rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days. Longer stays fall under a separate, non-transient classification once the operator documents the extended-stay arrangement.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
Phoenix hotel guests pay four stacked components: Arizona's state TPT, Maricopa County's excise tax, Phoenix's base city TPT, and Phoenix's additional transient lodging tax. The city component changed in 2025, so hotels using an older rate card are almost certainly underbilling.
| Tax component | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona state TPT | 5.5% | n/a |
| Maricopa County excise tax | 1.77% | Includes the county's Prop. 302 stadium tax component |
| Phoenix city TPT | 2.8% | Raised from 2.3% under Ordinance G-7369, effective July 1, 2025 |
| Phoenix transient lodging tax | 3.0% | Additional city tax on hotel, motel, and short-term rental stays of 29 days or less |
| Combined rate | 13.07% | Applies citywide to hotels, motels, resorts, and short-term rentals |
Phoenix does not layer a separate tourism improvement district assessment on top of this stack the way some cities do. Instead, the 3.0% transient lodging tax itself is the city's earmarked tourism and convention charge: it helps retire the $300 million in bonds Phoenix voters approved in November 2001 to expand the Phoenix Convention Center, alongside other visitor-facing spending.
Phoenix City Council raised the base city TPT rate specifically through Ordinance G-7369, passed March 18, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025. Because the increase applies to the general city rate rather than a hotel-specific line item, it is easy for a property to miss that its lodging tax obligation went up even though nothing changed in the hotel tax code itself.
Collection and Remittance
The guest pays the tax as part of the room charge, but the hotel, motel, or short-term rental operator is legally responsible for collecting it and remitting it on time. Since January 1, 2017, the Arizona Department of Revenue has been the single point of administration for TPT statewide, so Phoenix's city and county tax shares are filed and paid through AZTaxes.gov alongside the state's share, not sent to the city separately.
Filing frequency depends on estimated annual TPT liability: businesses under $2,000 file annually, those between $2,000 and $8,000 file quarterly, and those above $8,000 file monthly, with returns due by the 20th of the following month.
Airbnb collects and remits Arizona's state, county, and Phoenix transient lodging taxes on behalf of hosts statewide, and issues a Form 5018 certificate confirming it. Hosts still have to file a TPT return using the applicable exemption code to reflect that the platform already remitted the tax; skipping the filing entirely is a common and avoidable error. Vrbo's remittance coverage varies by listing, so hosts using multiple platforms should confirm collection status for each one rather than assuming parity.
Exemptions From Phoenix's Hotel Tax
Guests staying 30 consecutive days or longer are exempt from Phoenix's transient lodging tax and the additional city TPT tied to the transient classification, provided the operator has a written extended-stay agreement on file before or at check-in. Without that documentation, Phoenix and the state can hold the operator liable for the tax on the full stay, even if the guest ultimately stayed a month or more.
Federal government employees traveling on official business and paying with a government credit card or purchase order are generally exempt from the state and local TPT on lodging, but the exemption depends on the payment method and proper documentation at checkout, not simply on the guest's employer.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Billing the pre-2025 city rate. Ordinance G-7369 raised Phoenix's base city TPT from 2.3% to 2.8% effective July 1, 2025, and any property still quoting the old combined 12.57% total is under-collecting on every folio.
- Treating the 30-day exemption as automatic. Arizona and Phoenix both require a signed extended-stay agreement before the exemption applies; a verbal understanding with a long-term guest does not hold up in an audit.
- Assuming a booking platform's remittance ends the filing obligation. Even when Airbnb collects and remits Phoenix's transient lodging tax, the host still must file a TPT return referencing the exemption code for platform-collected tax.
- Confusing Phoenix's 3.0% transient lodging tax with a separate tourism district fee. Phoenix does not charge hotels a standalone tourism improvement district assessment; the 3.0% rate itself is the city's dedicated tourism and convention charge, and adding an extra line item for it double-counts the tax.
- Operating a short-term rental without the required city permit. Phoenix's short-term rental ordinance requires a permit, $500,000 in liability insurance, and neighbor notification; unpermitted operation draws a $1,000-per-month penalty on top of the unpaid tax exposure.
- Not retraining front-desk and reservations staff after a rate change. A rate configured correctly in the property management system still gets miscollected if staff key in overrides manually or quote outdated totals to phone bookings.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
None of this is about software fixing tax law, but a PMS does remove the two places Phoenix hotels most often slip: manually tracking a mid-year rate change like the 2025 city increase, and giving guests a booking total that does not match what actually lands on the folio. roommaster lets a property configure tax rates per component so a city-only rate change does not require touching the state or county lines, and its booking engine shows the full, tax-inclusive price before a guest confirms a reservation. Revenue and tax reports by date range also make it straightforward to pull exactly what was collected for a given TPT filing period, whether that property files monthly, quarterly, or annually.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Phoenix have its own hotel tax rate?
Yes. Phoenix charges a base city Transaction Privilege Tax of 2.8% plus an additional 3.0% transient lodging tax on top of Arizona's state TPT and Maricopa County's excise tax, for a combined 13.07% rate on most hotel, motel, and short-term rental stays.
2. What is Phoenix's hotel tax?
Phoenix's hotel tax is the combined 13.07% charge collected on paid lodging stays under 30 days, made up of the state TPT, Maricopa County's excise tax, Phoenix's base city TPT, and Phoenix's additional transient lodging tax.
3. What is Phoenix's lodging tax?
Phoenix's lodging tax is the same charge as its hotel tax. "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," and "bed tax" all describe the identical 13.07% combined levy on a Phoenix stay; they are not separate charges.
4. How long must a guest stay to be exempt from Phoenix's hotel tax?
A guest must stay 30 consecutive days or longer, and the hotel or rental operator needs a signed extended-stay agreement on file, for the stay to qualify as exempt from Phoenix's transient lodging tax and the transient portion of the city TPT.
5. Does Phoenix require hotels to disclose all fees upfront?
Arizona and Phoenix have not passed their own mandatory fee disclosure law, but a federal rule from the Federal Trade Commission, effective May 2025, already requires hotels nationwide, including in Phoenix, to display resort fees and other mandatory charges in the advertised price rather than adding them at checkout.
6. Who is responsible for filing Phoenix's hotel tax?
The hotel, motel, or short-term rental operator is legally responsible for collecting the tax from guests and filing it, even though a booking platform like Airbnb may collect and remit part of it automatically. Since 2017, all filings go through the Arizona Department of Revenue rather than to the city directly.
7. Did Phoenix's hotel tax rate recently change?
Yes. Ordinance G-7369, passed by Phoenix City Council on March 18, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, raised the city's base TPT rate from 2.3% to 2.8%, pushing the combined hotel tax rate from 12.57% to 13.07%.
