Elgin, IL Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Chapter 4.24 of the Elgin Municipal Code levies an 8 percent tax on the rent charged for renting a hotel or motel room within the city for each 24-hour period or portion of one for which a daily room charge is made (Section 4.24.020A). The tax does not apply to anyone renting a room for more than thirty consecutive days or to a person who both works and lives in the same hotel or motel. Legal liability for the tax rests with the renter, the guest who occupies the room, but it is the hotel or motel owner's duty to secure the tax from the renter and remit it to the finance director under procedures the finance director prescribes (Section 4.24.020B-D).

Owners must keep daily records showing the number of rooms rented each 24-hour period and the tax receipts collected, and the finance director or an authorized representative may enter the premises at any time to inspect those books (Section 4.24.030). Monthly tax returns are due on or before the 15th day of the following calendar month, and the finance director decides whether an owner reports on a cash-receipts or gross-billing basis; owners who bill and later write off a bad debt can deduct it from a later return but must report tax if the debt is later recovered (Section 4.24.040A, D).

Return information stays confidential except for official tax administration or law-enforcement purposes (Section 4.24.040E). Any room in a structure offered nightly with sleeping facilities counts as a taxable "hotel room or motel room" under the chapter's definition, regardless of what the operator calls the building (Section 4.24.010).