New Orleans, LA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate (300+ rooms)
- $1.00 per room per 24-hour period
- Tax rate (1-299 rooms)
- $0.50 per room per 24-hour period
- Collector
- Hotel operator, remits to Dept. of Finance
- Filing deadline
- 20th of month following reporting period
- Effective date
- November 1, 1990
- Over-collection penalty
- Misdemeanor under Sec. 150-1008
Summary
New Orleans imposes a hotel occupancy privilege tax on every occupied guest room within the city, collected by the hotel operator and remitted to the Department of Finance. Sec. 150-1002 sets a flat per-room, per-24-hour rate that scales with a hotel's total guest room capacity: $1.00 at hotels with 300 or more rooms, $0.50 at smaller properties, due when the guest pays.
There is hereby levied a tax upon persons for the privilege of occupying hotel rooms within the parish which shall be known as the hotel occupancy privilege tax. The tax shall only be due by the person or persons who pay for the room and shall be levied on the basis of hotel guest room capacity, in accordance with the following schedule and in accordance with the following rates: Hotel Guest Room Capacity — Amount of Tax Per 24-Hour Period: 300 or more ..... $1.00; 1 to 299 ..... $0.50
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 116 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 150-1002 levies the hotel occupancy privilege tax 'upon persons for the privilege of occupying hotel rooms within the parish,' with the tax due only from the person who pays for the room. 50 per room per 24-hour period. Sec. 150-1006 fixes when the tax attaches, at the moment the guest pays for the room, and places the duty to collect and remit on the hotel operator. Sec. 150-1007 makes that collection mandatory: the operator cannot absorb or assume the tax on the guest's behalf.
Reports go to the Department of Finance covering the previous month's business, due on or before the 20th of the following month under Sec. 00 may instead file quarterly, due the 20th of the month following the quarter, though monthly filing can be reinstated with the director's written approval. The article took effect November 1, 1990 under Sec. 150-1003, and by Sec. 150-1003(b) it lapses automatically if the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund is dissolved or decertified as the city's nonprofit tourism-promotion corporation. Net proceeds, after collection and audit costs, flow into the New Orleans Tourist and Convention Promotion and Support Fund under Sec. 150-1004, funding the city's contracted tourism and cultural economy program.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 150-1008 makes it a misdemeanor to advertise or collect, 'in the guise of a hotel occupancy privilege tax,' any sum exceeding the tax actually due. Sec. 150-1007 separately requires the operator to collect the tax from the guest rather than absorb it. Late or inaccurate monthly/quarterly reports to the Department of Finance under Sec. 150-1009 must be signed and warranted true and complete by the filer, exposing operators to enforcement for false or delinquent returns.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is New Orleans' hotel occupancy tax?
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When are hotel tax reports due?
Could this tax go away?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Orleans
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