The five U. S. destinations with the lowest discriminatory travel taxes—those imposed specially on travel-related services—are all in California, while the highest are found in Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago and Portland, Ore., according to a recent GBTA Foundation survey of the top 50 U.S. travel markets.
“The difference in the effective tax rate on travelers from one city to the next is quite remarkable,” said Joe Bates, director of research for the GBTA Foundation. “For instance, a traveler who visits Chicago pays 80 percent more in taxes during their one-stay than a traveler visiting Fort Lauderdale. If you are a travel manager planning a meeting, this is important information to take into consideration.”
According to the study, the California destinations with the lowest discriminatory travel taxes, including those on hotel, rental cars and meals, are Orange County, San Diego, San Jose, Burbank and Ontario.
The study also ranked cities based on their overall tax burden, factoring in general sales tax in combination with travel-specific taxes. Those cities ranked as having the highest total taxes on travelers are Chicago, New York, Seattle, Boston and Kansas City, Mo.
Destinations with the lowest taxes include three Florida cities—Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach—as well as Detroit. Portland, Ore., which has no sales tax, made the list as well, despite making the highest discriminatory travel taxes list.
