York County, VA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Base rate
- 5% of total room charge
- Additional flat fee
- $2.00 per night
- Covered stay length
- 30 consecutive days or less
- Remittance due
- 20th of each month
- Late penalty
- 10% or $10, whichever greater
- Violation classification
- Class 1 misdemeanor
- Exempt lodging
- Hospitals, clinics, homes for aged
Summary
York County, Virginia charges every hotel, motel, tourist home, and other lodging place a transient occupancy tax of 5% of the total room charge plus a flat $2 per night, under County Code Sec. 21-93. The tax applies to any guest staying 30 consecutive days or less, and operators must collect it at the time of payment and remit it to the Commissioner of the Revenue.
Hotel. Any public or private hotel, inn, apartment hotel, hostelry, tourist home or house, motel, rooming house, travel campground or tourist camp or other lodging place within the county offering lodging, and the owner and the operator thereof, who for compensation, furnishes lodging to any transient. ... Transient. ... Any person who, for any period of not more than thirty (30) consecutive days, either at his own expense or at the expense of another, obtains lodging in any hotel as hereinabove defined, for which lodging a charge is made. ... ... Sec. 21-93. - Levy; amount of tax. (a)In addition to all other taxes of every kind now or hereafter imposed by law, there is hereby imposed and levied a tax equivalent to 5% of the total room charge paid by or for any such transient for the use or possession of accommodations. ... (b)In addition to the tax provided for in subsection (a) above, commencing July 1, 2004, ... there is hereby levied and imposed an additional transient occupancy tax of $2.00 per night to any such transient for the use or possession of accommodations.
Full Breakdown
County Code Sec. 21-92 defines a taxable "Hotel" broadly to include any public or private hotel, inn, apartment hotel, hostelry, tourist home or house, motel, rooming house, travel campground, or tourist camp within the county, and a "Transient" as anyone obtaining lodging there for 30 consecutive days or less. Sec. 21-93 levies a 5% tax on the total room charge, with revenue above 2% earmarked for tourism and travel marketing as authorized by Va. Code Sec. 58.1-3819, plus an additional flat $2.00 per night imposed under Va.
Code Sec. 58.1-3823(C). Sec. 21-94 exempts room rental paid to a hospital, medical clinic, convalescent home, or home for the aged. Sec. 21-95 makes the accommodations provider (or intermediary, if the sale is facilitated through one) responsible for collecting the tax at the time of payment and holding it in trust for the county. Sec. 21-96 requires a monthly report and remittance to the Commissioner of the Revenue on or before the 20th day of the following month, covering total room charges and tax collected.
Sec. 21-99 makes any collected tax immediately due if the business closes, and Sec. 21-100 requires records to be kept for four years and made available for the Commissioner's inspection.
Violations & Fines
Failing or refusing to remit the tax on time draws a penalty under Sec. 21-97 of 10% of the tax owed or $10.00, whichever is greater, plus interest at 6% per year from the due date; the same 10%-or-$10 penalty applies separately for a late report. Sec. 21-101 makes any violation of the article a Class 1 misdemeanor, with each violation a separate offense that does not excuse payment of the tax owed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Are any lodging stays exempt from the tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in York County
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