Alexandria, VA
Discriminatory travel taxes and fees enacted on travel-related services impose an average increased cost on visitors of 57% over general sales tax, according to new research released by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). Findings from the 2012 annual study of car rental, hotel and meal taxes in the top 50 U.S. travel destination cities found these taxes are often used to fund local projects unrelated to tourism and business travel.
“Business travel is a key driver of economic growth, but overly burdensome taxes on business travel can often do more harm than good, especially when those taxes unfairly target visitors,” said Joseph Bates, vice president of research at the GBTA Foundation. “Cities and states must think carefully about the sales that local businesses will lose because of the higher costs that travel taxes impose.”
Following are lists of which 10 cities have the highest and the lowest travel taxes. The dollar amount shown is per-day, and includes a combination of general and discriminatory taxes targeted at travelers or travel-related areas that are in addition to the general sales tax.
The U.S. cities with the lowest travel taxes are Fort Lauderdale, Fla.$22.21; Fort Myers, Fla.$22.21; West Palm Beach, Fla., $22.21; Detroit$22.37; Portland, Ore.$22.45; Orange County, Calif.$22.79; Burbank, Calif.$23.74; Ontario, Calif.$24.08; Honolulu $24.38 and Orlando, $24.50.
The U.S. cities with the highest travel taxes are Chicago $40.31; New York $37.98; Boston $34.83; Kansas City, Mo.$34.58; Seattle, $34.43; Minneapolis, $34.32; Cleveland, $34.22, Indianapolis$34.19; Nashville, Tenn.$34.13 and Houston $33.51.
