Suffolk County Occupancy Tax: Rates, Registration, and Filing

The Suffolk County occupancy tax is a 5.5% charge on any lodging rental of fewer than 30 consecutive days, collected from the guest by the property operator and remitted quarterly to the County Comptroller.¹ It applies to every kind of overnight accommodation in the county, from traditional hotels to a spare bedroom listed on Airbnb.

What Guests Actually Pay

The 5.5% rate is charged on the nightly room rate and does not include sales tax.² It sits on top of the combined New York State and local sales tax on lodging, which as of March 2025 is 8.375% in Suffolk County.³ The total tax on a Suffolk County short-term stay comes to roughly 13.875%, but the two pieces are separate obligations reported through different channels.

Which Properties Have to Collect It

The county defines “hotel or motel” broadly. The statute reaches bed-and-breakfasts, inns, cabins, cottages, campgrounds, tourist homes, and convention centers, along with any other lodging facility offering paid overnight stays.⁴ The Comptroller’s office has made clear the law also covers private residences rented to guests, not just traditional hotels and motels.¹

If you rent a spare bedroom, a guesthouse, or your entire home through Airbnb, VRBO, or any other channel for fewer than 30 consecutive days at a time, you are an operator under this law.

Who Is Exempt

Guests who stay in the same room for at least 30 consecutive days qualify as permanent residents and stop owing the tax for that stay.²
The State of New York and the federal government are exempt when the agency itself is the purchaser. An employee who books and pays personally, even on official travel, does not qualify.⁵
The United Nations and similar international bodies of which the United States is a member are exempt.⁵
Nonprofits operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes are exempt when the organization is the purchaser. Individual members renting on a personal basis do not get the exemption.⁵

Ask for documentation before waiving the tax, and keep a copy in your records in case of an audit.

Registering with the Comptroller

Every lodging facility must register with the Comptroller’s office within ten days of its first rental. Operating without registration triggers a $50 fine for each day you are unregistered.¹ Register before your first guest checks in.

After approval, you receive a Certificate of Authority that must be displayed prominently at the property. The certificate is non-transferable, so if you sell or close the facility you must surrender it to the Comptroller’s office.¹

Quarterly Filing and Payment

Returns are due on the 20th of March, June, September, and December, each covering the preceding three months.⁶ Your return reports gross receipts and the number of rooms occupied during the quarter.

Filings go through the Comptroller’s online Tax Remittance Portal, which is now the standard method.¹ Keep daily records of guest stays, nightly rates, and tax collected. Clean records make the quarterly return quick and protect you if the county reviews your account.

Penalties for Late or Missing Payments

Missing a quarterly deadline adds a 10% penalty on the tax owed, plus 1% interest per month (or any fraction of a month) until the balance is paid.⁷ Interest starts running the day after the return was due.

Willful non-compliance is a different matter. The county can pursue fines of up to $1,000 or imprisonment of up to one year.¹ Criminal penalties are reserved for operators who deliberately evade the tax.

If You List on Airbnb

Suffolk County has a direct agreement with Airbnb under which the platform collects and remits the 5.5% occupancy tax on behalf of its hosts.⁸ If you list exclusively there, the platform handles the charge for you.

Other platforms may or may not collect on your behalf. Verify with each platform you use whether it remits the Suffolk County tax; if it doesn’t, the responsibility is entirely yours. Either way, you still have to register with the Comptroller’s office and file quarterly returns.

Federal Income Tax Is a Separate Question

The 5.5% is a county charge you pass through from the guest, not income to you. Your rental income itself is a separate federal matter. Most hosts who provide a furnished space without hotel-style personal services report the income on Schedule E as passive rental; those offering substantial services like meals or daily cleaning report on Schedule C, which also brings self-employment tax.⁹

A narrow break exists for occasional hosts. If you rent your home fewer than 15 days during the year and use it as your personal residence, the income is excluded from federal gross income entirely, and you also cannot deduct rental expenses.¹⁰ Booking platforms must send you and the IRS a Form 1099-K if your gross platform payments exceed $20,000 across more than 200 transactions in the year, but you owe federal tax on your rental income whether or not you receive one.¹¹

1
Suffolk County Comptroller. Hotel / Motel Tax
2
ECode360. Suffolk County Code Chapter 523 Article II – Hotel and Motel Occupancy Tax – Section: 523-10 Imposition of Tax
3
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Suffolk County Sales and Use Tax Rate Change
4
Suffolk County Government. Suffolk County Code Chapter 523 – Hotels and Motels
5
Suffolk County, NY. Suffolk County Code Chapter 523 – Hotels and Motels – Section: 523-10 Imposition of Tax
6
Suffolk County Comptroller. Suffolk County Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax Program Guidelines and Legal Authority
7
Suffolk County Government. Suffolk County Code Chapter 523 – Hotels and Motels – Section: 523-11
8
Suffolk County Comptroller. Suffolk County Signs Contract with Airbnb, Streamlining Payment of Hotel Motel Occupancy Tax
9
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 414, Rental Income and Expenses
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 280A – Disallowance of Certain Expenses in Connection with Business Use of Home
11
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues FAQs on Form 1099-K Threshold Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill