Provo, UT Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 1.5% of gross room revenue
- Applies to
- Stays of less than 30 days
- Tax base
- Base room rate only
- Credit
- Offsets Title 6 license tax
- Activation
- Requires triggering Council resolution
- Enacted
- 1990-66, last amended 1994-20
Summary
Provo levies a 1.5% innkeeper revenue tax on gross rental income from any motor court, motel, hotel, inn, or similar public accommodation renting rooms for stays of less than 30 days. The tax is separate from the state transient room tax and is collected by the City Treasurer, with a credit allowed against the operator's Title 6 business license tax.
There is hereby levied upon the business of every person, company, corporation, or other like and similar persons, groups or organizations, doing business in the City as motor courts, motels, hotels, inns or the like, and similar public accommodations, an annual license tax equal to one and a half per cent (1.5%) of the gross revenue derived from the rent for each and every occupancy of a suite, room or rooms, for a period of less than thirty (30) days.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-17, passed June 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
5% of the gross revenue derived from renting a suite, room, or rooms for any occupancy lasting less than 30 days at a motor court, motel, hotel, inn, or similar public accommodation operating in the city. The tax is computed on the base room rental rate; the code excludes state and local sales/use taxes, any transient room tax or resort communities tax levied under Utah Code Title 59, Chapter 12, food and beverage or room-service charges billed separately from the base rate, and telephone, gas, or electric charges not folded into the room rate.
Operators who pay the innkeeper tax receive a credit against the license tax otherwise owed under Title 6 of the Provo City Code. Collection follows the same basis and schedule the Utah State Tax Commission uses for the state transient room tax, and every taxed business must report and remit to whichever office the City Administration designates for collection. The City may also contract with the State Tax Commission or other agencies to administer and enforce the tax. Notably, the ordinance does not self-execute: Subsection (6) provides that the innkeeper tax 'shall take effect upon enactment hereafter of a resolution of the Provo City Municipal Council, setting a date for its imposition,' so operators should confirm with the City Treasurer's office whether a triggering resolution is currently in force. 5% rate itself.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 5.02.030 does not spell out its own late-payment penalty; unpaid amounts are pursued through the City's contract enforcement with the Utah State Tax Commission, which may impose levies and other penalties, and through Title 6 business-license consequences since payment affects a hotel's license-tax credit. Provo City Code Section 1.03.010 separately makes any code provision declared unlawful punishable by a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both, and applies citywide unless a section states otherwise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Provo's innkeeper tax apply to Airbnb-style short-term rentals?
What charges are excluded from the 1.5% innkeeper tax?
Can a hotel offset this tax against other city taxes?
Who collects Provo's innkeeper tax and enforces payment?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Provo
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Transient Occupancy Tax in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Utah County handle transient occupancy tax.