Clarksville, TN Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Rate
- 2.75% of consideration, since Jan 1 2025
- Due date
- 20th of month, for prior month
- Operator keeps
- 2% as compensation
- Late interest
- 12%/year plus 1%/month penalty
- Proceeds go to
- Tourism development authority only
Summary
Clarksville taxes every transient's hotel stay at 2.75 percent of the amount charged, a rate effective since January 1, 2025 under Sec. 6-308, and the code's definition of hotel expressly reaches motels, tourist courts, campgrounds and short-term rental units, not just traditional hotels.
"Hotel" means any structure or space, or any portion thereof, that is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes, and includes privately, publicly, or government-owned hotels, inns, tourist camps, tourist courts, tourist cabins, motels, short-term rental units, primitive and recreational vehicle campsites and campgrounds, or any place in which rooms, lodgings, or accommodations are furnished to transients for consideration... Pursuant to the provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-1401, et seq., the city hereby levies a privilege and occupancy tax in any hotel of each transient. Commencing on January 1, 2025 and remaining in effect thereafter, the rate of the levy shall be two and seventy-five hundredths (2.75) percent of the consideration charged by the operator.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 110 Update 2 | Zoning Ordinance: Supplement 6).
Full Breakdown
The tax applies to any transient, defined as someone occupying a room for less than thirty continuous days, and reaches every kind of paid short-term lodging the code lists: hotels, inns, motels, tourist courts and cabins, and short-term rental units, along with primitive and RV campsites and campgrounds. The city mayor or a designee is the collector charged with administering and enforcing the tax under Sec. 6-308(a). Operators must remit what they collect by the twentieth day of the month following the month it was charged, per Sec.
6-309, and Sec. 6-310 lets the hotel keep two percent of what it collects as compensation for handling the collection. Falling behind carries real cost: Sec. 6-311 charges interest at twelve percent per year on delinquent tax, plus a separate one percent penalty for every month or partial month the payment is late. Operators must keep records sufficient to verify the tax collected for three years after the fact, available for the city to inspect, under Sec. 6-312. All proceeds are earmarked, not general revenue in practice: Sec.
, to spend on operating expenses, tourism facility maintenance, or as security for the authority's own bonds. Sec. 6-308(b) confirms the fund is dedicated solely to tourism purposes and tourism development within the city.
Violations & Fines
Failing to remit the 2.75 percent tax by the twentieth of the month draws interest at twelve percent annually plus a one percent penalty for every month or partial month the payment is late under Sec. 6-311, and an operator that cannot produce the three years of records required by Sec. 6-312 for inspection is in violation of the chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Clarksville's hotel tax apply to short-term rentals like Airbnb?
When does Clarksville's hotel tax payment come due?
Where does the money from Clarksville's hotel tax go?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clarksville
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