Connecticut’s hotel lodging tax was the highest in the country in 2013, according to report released this week by Chicago-based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting.
The state levies a 15 percent tax on hotel stays up to 30 days in length, which is higher than any other state. The tax was increased from its previous level of 12 percent in 2011 to help plug a budget deficit.
Unlike many states, Connecticut charges no sales tax on hotel stays. The HVS report accounted for the total of both sales and lodging taxes in its ranking.
It also noted that the state forbids local government from enacting lodging taxes, like in many other states. So while Connecticut’s state tax rate is the highest among the states, several dozen cities in the country end up having higher hotel tax rates than 15 percent because of the combined total of their local, special district and state taxes.
St. Louis, Mo., had the highest combined hotel tax rates among urban centers, at just under 22 percent.
Hotel taxes produced $104 million in revenue for Connecticut in fiscal 2013, the seventh highest in the country. That was up from $102.1 million in 2012, representing 1.8 percent growth. That tied the state for last place in hotel tax revenue growth with Nevada.
Connecticut’s estimated taxable room revenue last year was $693.1 million, the 10th-lowest in the country, the report said.
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