Cedar Rapids, IA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 7% of gross room receipts
- Exemption
- Stays over 31 consecutive days
- Administered by
- Iowa Department of Revenue
- Filing
- Quarterly returns required
Summary
Cedar Rapids imposes a 7% hotel and motel tax on gross receipts from renting rooms to transient guests citywide, exempting only stays the same person books for more than 31 consecutive days.
There is hereby imposed by ordinance of the City Council of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a hotel and motel tax at a rate of 7 percent upon the gross receipts from the renting of any and all rooms, apartments, or sleeping quarters in any hotel, motel, inn, public lodging house, rooming house, or tourist court, or in any place where sleeping accommodations are furnished to transient guests for rent, whether with or without meals except the gross receipts from the renting of sleeping rooms in dormitories and in memorial unions at all State of Iowa universities and colleges. The tax shall apply only within the corporate boundaries of the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
(80-84)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 24).
Full Breakdown
City Code § 50.01 levies a 7% tax on gross receipts from renting rooms, apartments, or sleeping quarters in any hotel, motel, inn, public lodging house, rooming house, or tourist court within Cedar Rapids' corporate limits, carving out university dormitories and memorial unions. Section 50.02 excludes long-term renters: the tax does not apply once the same person rents a room for more than 31 consecutive days. The rate rose from 5% to 7% on April 1, 1985 (§ 50.03), and the Iowa Department of Revenue administers it like the state sales tax, requiring quarterly returns (§§ 50.04, 50.07).
Violations & Fines
The tax is collected and enforced by the Iowa Department of Revenue under the same mechanisms as the state sales tax (§ 50.07); no separate local tax permit may be required beyond the state tax permit (§ 50.06).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hotel tax rate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?
Does the Cedar Rapids hotel tax apply to a month-long stay?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cedar Rapids
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