Study Reveals Best, Worst Travel Taxes in Top 50 U.S. Destinations

The NBTA Foundation, the education and research foundation of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), and Concur, the world’s leading provider of on-demand Employee Spend Management services, today released the updated findings of an annual study of car rental, hotel and meal taxes in the top 50 U.S. travel destination cities.

The study reveals that the discriminatory travel taxes and fees enacted on travel-related services – often to fund unrelated local projects – impose an average increased cost on visitors of 56 percent over general sales tax.

The full report is available exclusively to Concur clients and NBTA members and offers detailed insight for travel managers interested in understanding the impact that these taxes have on their business travel spend.

The study provides several different views of travel taxes to help readers make informed choices. The top 50 markets are ranked by overall travel tax burden, including general sales tax and discriminatory travel taxes, and by discriminatory travel tax burden, excluding general sales taxes to count only taxes that target car rentals, hotel stays and meals. Separate data are offered for central city and airport locations, as the tax regimes are often distinct.

The research shows the U.S. cities where travelers incur the lowest total tax burden in central city locations, factoring in general sales taxes and discriminatory travel taxes, are Fort Lauderdale, FL, Fort Myers, FL, Portland, OR, Detroit, MI and Honolulu, HI. The cities that impose the highest total taxes on travelers are Chicago, IL, New York, NY, Boston, MA, Seattle, WA and Minneapolis, MN.

Discriminatory travel taxes are those imposed specifically on travel services above and beyond general sales taxes. The U.S. cities with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates in central city locations are Orange County, CA, San Jose, CA, Burbank, CA, San Diego, CA and Ontario, CA. The cities that impose the highest discriminatory travel taxes on travelers are Portland, OR, Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, Indianapolis, IN and New York, NY.