New Brunswick, NJ Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- Three percent on charges of rent
- Rate applies to occupancies
- On or after July 1, 2004
- Who pays
- The purchaser, never the vendor
- Collected by
- Person collecting the rent, on behalf of the city
- Penalty
- $1,250 for each offense
- Enabling law
- P.L. 2003, c.114
Summary
The City of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, imposes a hotel and motel room occupancy tax of three percent on charges of rent for occupancy on or after July 1, 2004. The city tax sits on top of any other state or local tax or fee, and the person collecting the rent collects it from the guest.
There is established a hotel and motel room occupancy tax in the city which is fixed at a uniform percentage rate of one percent on charges of rent for every occupancy of a hotel or motel room in the city on or after July 1, 2003, but before July 1, 2004, and three percent on charges of rent for every occupancy of a hotel or motel room in the city on or after July 1, 2004, of a room or rooms in a hotel subject to taxation pursuant to subsection (d) of section 3 of P.L. 1966, c.40, N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3 (sales tax).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 3.32 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code implements P.L. 2003, c.114, the state law that authorizes a municipality to tax hotel room rent. Section 3.32.010 records the state ceiling: one percent for occupancies on or after July 1, 2003 but before July 1, 2004, and three percent for occupancies on or after July 1, 2004. Section 3.32.020 fixes the City of New Brunswick's rate at exactly those figures, so the operative rate is three percent on charges of rent. The tax reaches a room or rooms in a hotel that is already subject to the state sales tax under subsection (d) of section 3 of P.L.
1966, c.40, N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3. Section 3.32.030 makes the city tax an add-on to any other tax or fee that state law, a local ordinance or a resolution places on the occupancy of a hotel room. Under section 3.32.040 the purchaser pays every dollar of the tax. A vendor cannot assume or absorb it, and cannot advertise or hold out to the public that it will be absorbed, that it will not be separately stated and charged, or that it will be refunded. Section 3.32.050 makes the person collecting the rent the city's collector.
That person is personally liable for the tax imposed, collected or required to be collected, has the same right to collect it from the customer as if it were part of the rent, and can be sued for it with the chief financial officer of the city joined as a party. The chapter speaks only of hotels and motels and of rooms in a hotel subject to N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3. It does not use the words short-term rental.
Violations & Fines
Section 3.32.040(E) sets the penalty at one thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($1,250.00) for each offense. Each assumption or absorption of the tax by a vendor is a separate offense, and each representation or advertisement that the tax will be absorbed, left unstated or refunded is a separate offense for every day it continues. A person required to collect the tax is also personally liable for it under section 3.32.050.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hotel occupancy tax rate in New Brunswick, NJ?
Can a New Brunswick hotel absorb the tax instead of charging the guest?
Does the city tax replace the state sales tax on hotel rooms?
Who is responsible for collecting the tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Brunswick
Compare New Brunswick to another location·View the New Jersey hotels & lodging overview
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Transient Occupancy Tax in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle transient occupancy tax.