Boulder, CO Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 7.5% excise tax on lodging services
- Governing section
- B.R.C. § 3-3-2, Public Accommodations Tax
- Who remits
- Hotel/motel operator collects and remits to city
- STR treatment
- Taxed under separate Ch. 3-15 at same 7.5%
- Late-payment penalty
- 10% one-time penalty plus 1%/month interest
- Exempt entities
- US/CO government and licensed charities paying directly
- Revenue use
- General fund; up to 20% for tourism promotion
Summary
Boulder charges a 7.5% excise tax on every lodging stay, collected by the hotel, motel, or short-term rental operator and remitted to the city manager under B.R.C. § 3-3-2. Short-term rentals pay the identical 7.5% rate under the separate Chapter 3-15 short-term rental tax rather than this chapter. Revenue funds general city services, with up to 20% earmarked for tourism promotion.
There is hereby levied and shall be paid and collected an excise tax of seven and one-half percent on the price paid for lodging services.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 167 Update 3).
Full Breakdown
C. 1981 § 3-3-2, levies "an excise tax of seven and one-half percent on the price paid for lodging services," charged on any hotel, motel, or other accommodation rented for "lodging purposes" other than a meeting or eating use (§ 3-3-5). The retailer, meaning the hotel or motel operator, must collect the tax from the guest and remit it to the city manager; § 3-3-3 makes it unlawful for either the guest to fail to pay or the retailer to fail to collect and remit, and places the burden of proving any transaction exempt on whoever had the duty to collect.
" A person subject to one chapter is not double-taxed under the other. Section 3-3-6 exempts the federal government, State of Colorado and its subdivisions (including the city itself) when paying directly by government purchase card or warrant, and exempts religious, charitable, and quasi-governmental organizations, but only if the organization first obtained an exempt-organization license under § 3-2-12 and furnished it to the licensee, and only if the organization paid directly without reimbursement. Per § 3-3-1, revenue is deposited in the general fund, and city council has declared its intent, while not binding future councils, that up to twenty percent of the revenue be appropriated for programs and services that promote tourism in the city.
Violations & Fines
Failure to collect, file, or remit the tax triggers a city manager assessment under B.R.C. § 3-17-13, which applies to every tax in Title 3. A late or deficient return draws a one-time ten percent penalty plus interest at one percent per month on the deficiency (§ 3-17-13(j)); a deficiency tied to fraud intended to evade the tax carries a full one-hundred-percent penalty plus three percent monthly interest (§ 3-17-13(c)). Assessments may be appealed to the city manager within thirty days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Boulder's hotel tax apply to Airbnb and other short-term rentals?
Who is responsible for collecting Boulder's lodging tax?
What happens if a hotel pays Boulder's lodging tax late?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Boulder
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Transient Occupancy Tax in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Boulder County handle transient occupancy tax.