Hurricane Harvey – Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemptions

Hotel Tax Waiver

The collection of Texas state and local hotel occupancy tax, including venue project hotel tax, is temporarily suspended for disaster relief workers and people displaced by Hurricane Harvey. The hotel tax waiver is for a period beginning Aug. 23, 2017, and ending Oct. 23, 2017.

To Claim the Exemption

Hurricane Harvey victims and relief workers should complete a Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate (Form 12-302). Hotel managers should mark the “Exempt by Other Federal or State Law” box and write “Hurricane Harvey” anywhere on the form. Normally for the exemption certificate to be valid the hotel operator must attach a photo ID, business card or other document to verify a guest’s affiliation with an exempt entity. In addition, the name and complete address of the exempt entity must be filled out. Both of these requirements appear to have been waived for hurricane victims and relief workers. To be certain the Comptroller’s Office should be contacted to confirm these instructions. These exemption certificates must be kept on hand for four years. Do not send these certificates to the Comptroller’s Office.

Tax Waiver Not Requested

If a person or organization that qualifies for the tax waiver does not request the exemption and purposefully pays tax to the hotel, the hotel should collect the tax. The hotel must report the room receipts as taxable room receipts and remit the tax to the state.

Refund Requests

For Hurricane Harvey victims and relief workers who have already paid hotel tax, refund requests should be made to the hotel that collected the tax. After refunding the tax, the hotel can adjust taxable receipts on a current return to take credit for the refund. The hotel also has the option of completing the Assignment of Right to Refund (Form 00-985), which is for state hotel tax only. This document is provided to the person or party who paid the Texas State hotel occupancy tax so they can request a refund directly from the agency.

See Section 3.161 – Definitions, Exemptions and Exemption Certificate for any other information regarding exemptions from the Hotel Occupancy Tax.