Akron, OH Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

61 as someone occupying a room for sleeping accommodations for less than thirty consecutive days. 62 sets the rate at three percent of all rents paid or payable for that lodging, a debt owed by the transient guest to the city that is extinguished only when paid to the operator, who holds it as trustee for the city, or paid directly to the city. The tax attaches when lodging is furnished, regardless of when the guest actually pays. The ordinance presumes every hotel and motel room rented to a transient guest is taxable unless the operator proves otherwise.

63 exempts only rents outside the city's constitutional taxing authority and rents paid by the city or its political subdivisions, and any exemption claim must be made under penalty of perjury at the time rent is collected. 64 bars a guest from refusing to pay the tax or presenting false exemption evidence. 65 puts collection on the operator, who must obtain an exemption certificate from any guest claiming one or presume the tax applies. 66 requires the tax to be stated and charged separately from rent on every bill, and bars an operator from advertising that it will absorb or refund the tax.

67, every hotel or motel operator must register with the Tax Commissioner within thirty days of commencing business and obtain a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate, conspicuously posted on the premises, that states the operator's name, the property address, and the issue date; the certificate itself is not a business permit. 68 requires operators to keep complete records of lodging and tax collected, open to the Tax Commissioner's inspection, and preserved for three years.