Topeka, KS Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

The tax is codified in Article XV, Division 2 of the Topeka Municipal Code, added by Charter Ordinance 120 and amended by Charter Ordinance 125. It reaches any hotel, motel or tourist court, defined at TMC Appendix A Sec. A15-16(b) as a structure with rooms furnished for lodging and having more than two bedrooms furnished for guests. A transient guest is anyone occupying a room for not more than 28 consecutive days, Sec. A15-16(c), and the tax also reaches stays booked through an accommodations broker, defined at Sec.

A15-16(e) as any business maintaining an inventory of two or more rooms offered for pay for stays of 28 days or less, a definition broad enough to sweep in short-term rental booking platforms operating in Topeka. Under Sec. A15-17, the levy is seven percent of gross rental receipts, exclusive of charges for incidental services, from November 14, 2015 through December 31, 2027. The rate drops to six percent from 2028 through 2032, then five percent starting January 1, 2033. City-owned Hotel Topeka carries a separate eight percent rate beginning January 1, 2026, measured against a 2025 base year, with the surcharge above that base year funding the city's recoupment of the hotel's purchase price, capital expenses and operating losses until fully reimbursed, after which the eight percent rate expires.

Businesses collect the tax from guests and remit it monthly to the Kansas Department of Revenue by the 25th of the following month, Sec. A15-20, and the department administers and enforces collection, Sec. A15-23. Collected receipts flow into a dedicated transient guest tax fund, Sec. A15-24, spent on convention and tourism promotion and related city facilities and services, Sec. A15-25.