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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Wisconsin 2026: TOT Rates By City
Wisconsin has no statewide hotel tax, but its Premier Resort Area Tax lets a handful of tourist towns add a second sales tax on top of local room tax, so some hotels answer to three tax layers at once.
August 28, 2026
7
min. read
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TL;DR
- Wisconsin has no single statewide hotel tax; room tax is set city by city under Wis. Stat. § 66.0615, capped at 8%.
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "room tax," "bed tax," and "occupancy tax" all refer to the same charge here.
- Municipal room tax stacks with the 5% state sales tax and, in most counties, a 0.5% county sales tax (0.9% in Milwaukee County).
- Stays of 30 consecutive days or more (the lesser of a calendar month or 30 days) are exempt from room tax.
- Ten Wisconsin tourism towns, including Wisconsin Dells and Bayfield, also levy a Premier Resort Area Tax of 0.5% to 1.25% on top of room tax.
- Any municipality that started or raised its room tax after May 13, 1994 must spend at least 70% of the new revenue on tourism promotion.
- Every municipality that collects room tax must file an annual report with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue by May 1 or risk a penalty of up to $3,000.
- Milwaukee's room tax reaches 10% through a two-tier "local exposition district" structure that funds the Wisconsin Center District convention complex.
How Wisconsin's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Wisconsin calls its lodging levy a room tax, and unlike many states there is no single statewide rate. Wis. Stat. § 66.0615 lets each town, village, or city set its own room tax by ordinance, capped at 8% of the rental price, so the rate a hotel charges depends entirely on which municipality it sits in.
The statute authorizes a municipality's governing body, its town board, village board, or city council, to adopt or raise the room tax by ordinance. No statewide referendum is required for a standard room tax, which is a lighter process than neighboring Iowa or Missouri, where voters must approve a local hotel tax before a city can collect one. Wisconsin does require something else: any municipality that first imposed room tax after May 13, 1994, or that raised its rate after that date, must dedicate at least 70% of the tax collected to tourism promotion and development, either spent directly by the municipality or forwarded to a local tourism commission.
Room tax applies to hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds, and other short-term lodging furnished to transients, including short-term rentals booked through Airbnb or Vrbo. Under 2015 Wisconsin Act 55, marketplace providers like these platforms are required to collect and remit room tax on behalf of hosts in municipalities that impose it.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
Room tax rates across Wisconsin range from a few percent in smaller communities to the statutory 8% ceiling in popular tourist destinations. The table below shows verified rates in several Wisconsin cities and tourism zones, plus the Premier Resort Area Tax that applies in a handful of them.
| City / county | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 10% | 3% basic plus 7% additional local exposition district room tax funding the Wisconsin Center District; Milwaukee County's 0.9% sales tax (raised from 0.5% effective January 1, 2024) and the 5% state sales tax also apply. |
| Madison | 10% | Municipal room tax; combines with the 5% state sales tax and Dane County's 0.5% sales tax. |
| Green Bay | 10% | Municipal room tax. |
| Door County (13 municipalities) | 8% | Raised from 5.5% after Door County Tourism Zone Commission communities acted jointly. |
| Lake Geneva | 8% | Increased from a lower rate by city ordinance to fund Visit Lake Geneva. |
| Wisconsin Dells | 5.5% room tax plus 1.25% Premier Resort Area Tax | Combined municipal lodging surcharge of 6.75% before state and county sales tax; 90% of room tax proceeds fund the Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau. |
| Bayfield, Rhinelander, Eagle River | 0.5% Premier Resort Area Tax | Applies on top of each city's own room tax and the 5% state sales tax; limited to municipalities that qualify as tourism-dependent under state law. |
The Premier Resort Area Tax is Wisconsin's version of a tourism district assessment, but it works differently from a typical downtown business improvement district. Rather than applying to just hotel rooms, it is a special sales tax layered on nearly everything sold at retail within the qualifying municipality, restaurants, retail shops, and lodging alike, not simply an add-on to the room tax bill. Only municipalities that meet the state's tourism-dependent economy test can adopt it, and as of 2026 ten Wisconsin communities have done so, most recently the City of Sturgeon Bay and the Town of Minocqua, both effective July 1, 2026.
Milwaukee's local exposition district tax works differently again: it is specifically a room tax surcharge, not a general sales tax, split into a 3% basic rate and a 7% additional rate that together fund the Wisconsin Center District's convention and entertainment facilities. A hotel finance team should never assume the local exposition district tax and a standard municipal room tax are the same line item; in Milwaukee they are combined into one 10% room tax figure, while in most other Wisconsin cities the municipal room tax is the only lodging-specific tax charged.
Collection and Remittance
Guests pay Wisconsin's room tax at checkout, but the hotel, motel, or short-term rental operator is legally responsible for collecting it and remitting it to the municipality where the property sits. Most municipalities require monthly remittance from lodging operators, though the exact due date is set locally rather than by state law. Separately, every municipality or tourism commission that imposes room tax must file its own annual room tax report directly with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue by May 1 each year; failing to file can trigger a state penalty of up to $3,000, even though the state itself never touches the tax revenue.
Online travel agencies and short-term rental platforms add another layer. Since 2015 Wisconsin Act 55, marketplace providers such as Airbnb and Vrbo must collect and remit room tax on listings in municipalities that impose it, but a hotel or host using multiple booking channels should still confirm which platform is actually filing on their behalf. Assuming one OTA's remittance covers every channel is one of the most common Wisconsin room tax mistakes.
Exemptions From Wisconsin's Hotel Tax
Wisconsin exempts lodging furnished to the same person or entity for a continuous period of one month or more, defined as the lesser of a calendar month or 30 consecutive days. The day a guest checks in counts as a day of occupancy; the day they check out does not. If a stay qualifies for this exemption from the 5% state sales tax, it is automatically exempt from local room tax and any Premier Resort Area Tax as well, since local room tax exemptions follow the state sales tax exemption by law.
Beyond the long-stay exemption, Wisconsin room tax generally does not apply to lodging sold for resale, such as a room block purchased by a tour operator that resells it to guests, since only the final retail sale to the transient guest is taxable.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Charging a stale rate after a local increase. Door County's 13 municipalities moved from 5.5% to 8%, and Lake Geneva raised its rate too; a property still billing the old percentage under-collects and owes the difference out of pocket.
- Treating the 30-day exemption as automatic. Wisconsin requires the stay to be continuous and to the same person or entity; front desk staff need to track this and should not assume a long-term reservation qualifies without documentation.
- Confusing the Premier Resort Area Tax with room tax. In Wisconsin Dells and other Premier Resort Area towns, the tax is a separate line item calculated on nearly all retail sales, not simply an add-on percentage folded into the room tax rate.
- Assuming Airbnb or Vrbo already filed the room tax. Marketplace providers are required to collect and remit under 2015 Wisconsin Act 55, but a property that also takes direct bookings still owes tax on those bookings itself.
- Missing the May 1 state reporting deadline. The annual room tax report to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue is a separate obligation from local monthly remittance, and missing it can cost a municipality up to $3,000.
- Not adjusting after a Milwaukee-style two-tier increase. When a district raises the additional portion of a room tax without touching the basic portion, staff trained on the old combined percentage can undercharge if they don't update both figures.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
This is not about software. It is about getting a legally required number right on every folio, in a state where that number can differ by several percentage points between two towns ten miles apart. What a property management system can do is hold each jurisdiction's room tax and any Premier Resort Area Tax as separate, clearly labeled tax codes rather than one blended percentage, so a rate change in Door County or Lake Geneva does not require hand-editing every reservation. A booking engine that shows the full price, including local room tax, before checkout also keeps a hotel's advertised rate honest, and revenue reports broken out by date range make the annual state filing and monthly municipal remittance far easier to reconcile against actual collections.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Wisconsin have a statewide hotel tax rate?
No. Wisconsin does not set one statewide room tax rate; Wis. Stat. § 66.0615 lets each town, village, or city adopt its own rate by ordinance, up to a statutory cap of 8%, so what a guest pays depends entirely on which municipality the property sits in.
2. What is Wisconsin's hotel tax?
Wisconsin calls it a room tax. It is a local charge, not a state charge, added to the price of a hotel, motel, or short-term rental stay of less than 30 days, and it stacks with Wisconsin's 5% state sales tax and any county sales tax that also applies to lodging.
3. What is Wisconsin's lodging tax?
Lodging tax, room tax, hotel tax, bed tax, transient occupancy tax, and TOT all describe the same charge in Wisconsin: the local room tax authorized under Wis. Stat. § 66.0615.
4. How long does a guest have to stay in Wisconsin to be exempt from room tax?
A stay is exempt once it reaches a continuous period of one month, defined as the lesser of a calendar month or 30 consecutive days, rented to the same person or entity. Shorter stays remain fully taxable.
5. Does Wisconsin require hotels to disclose the full price including taxes and fees before checkout?
Wisconsin does not have a dedicated statewide all-in pricing law for lodging comparable to some other states' junk-fee statutes; hotels should still confirm whether their city or booking platform imposes its own disclosure requirements, since none was found at the state level as of 2026.
6. Who is responsible for filing and remitting Wisconsin's room tax?
The hotel, motel, or short-term rental operator collects room tax from guests and remits it to the municipality where the property is located, typically on a monthly basis. In addition, the municipality itself, not individual properties, must file a separate annual room tax report with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue by May 1.
7. Why do some Wisconsin hotels charge an extra Premier Resort Area Tax?
Ten Wisconsin communities that qualify as tourism-dependent under state law, including Wisconsin Dells, Bayfield, and Rhinelander, have adopted a Premier Resort Area Tax of 0.5% to 1.25%. It applies to nearly all retail sales in that municipality, not just lodging, and is charged in addition to the local room tax and state sales tax.
