Dubuque, IA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 7% of gross room receipts
- Governing section
- Dubuque City Code § 3-3-2
- Taxable stay length
- 31 consecutive days or less
- Exempt housing
- Dorms/memorial unions at state colleges
- Remittance
- Paid as provided in the code of Iowa
Summary
The City of Dubuque taxes hotel and motel room rentals at 7% of gross receipts under Dubuque City Code § 3-3-2, on top of any state-administered lodging tax. The levy applies to any room, apartment or sleeping quarters rented to the same guest for 31 consecutive days or less; longer stays fall outside the tax.
HOTEL AND MOTEL: ... Any hotel, motel, inn, public lodging house, rooming house or tourist court, or any place where sleeping accommodations are furnished to transient guests for rent, whether with or without meals, except sleeping rooms in dormitories and in memorial unions of all state universities and colleges. ... A tax is hereby imposed upon the gross receipts from the renting of any and all rooms, apartments or sleeping quarters in any hotel or motel at the rate of seven percent (7%) of such gross receipts derived from the renting of a room, apartment or sleeping quarters while rented by the same person for a period of not more than thirty one (31) consecutive days.
Full Breakdown
Dubuque City Code § 3-3-1 defines "hotel and motel" broadly to reach any hotel, motel, inn, public lodging house, rooming house or tourist court, or any place furnishing sleeping accommodations to transient guests for rent, with or without meals, but the definition expressly carves out sleeping rooms in dormitories and memorial unions at Iowa's state universities and colleges, so on-campus housing at Loras College or Clarke University is not swept into the tax base the way a downtown hotel near the Port of Dubuque is.
Section 3-3-2 imposes the 7 percent tax on gross receipts from renting any room, apartment or sleeping quarters, but only while that space is rented "by the same person for a period of not more than thirty one (31) consecutive days"; once a tenant's stay crosses the 31-day mark, the arrangement is treated as longer-term housing rather than transient lodging and drops out of the tax base. "Renting and rent" under § 3-3-1 is defined to include any kind of direct or indirect charge for a room, apartment or sleeping quarters, closing off attempts to relabel the charge to avoid the levy.
Section 3-3-3 sets no separate city collection mechanics; it directs that the tax "shall be paid as is provided in the code of Iowa," tying Dubuque's hotel-motel tax into the state's existing lodging-tax remittance and reporting system rather than a standalone city billing process.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 3-3 prints no separate penalty section; unpaid hotel-motel tax is collected through the state remittance procedure referenced in § 3-3-3, and an operator who fails to properly collect or remit the tax remains liable for the underpayment along with whatever penalty and interest applies under the state's lodging-tax remittance rules that section incorporates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Dubuque's hotel tax apply to short-term rentals like an Airbnb?
Is a long-term extended-stay guest taxed?
Are college dorm rooms subject to the tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Dubuque
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