Long Term Stay Tax Question
 

I've been staying at a Residence Inn booked out through the weekends for quite some time, and I decided to make a switch to the Courtyard nextdoor. Currently I have a nightly rate of $65 and a City tax of $1.95 in Independence, OH.

On my negotiated rate with the Courtyard I was able to maintain the same nightly rate, but the taxes are significantly higher. After reading through some of the forums I realized that this is because I do not pay any sales tax, as I am considered a resident.

So my question boils down to this... If I am going to stay at the Courtyard for over 3 months, should I expect the same nightly tax rate, or is there some difference because the courtyard has a kitchen?

I think so. I believe once you pass 30 days for hotel stays, you no longer need to pay the sales tax. But be careful if you are at Starwood where they do not give you pts or credit for stays past 30 days.

If you stay at a hotel for more then 30 days, do you start not paying taxes after the 30 days, or does it include the initial 30 days as well? Either way, does the hotel do this automatically, or do you have to ask?

This is something that varies state to state. In Ohio, state sales tax isn't charged for stays longer than 30 days, as that is their threshold for "residency" in the hotel. I experienced this once last year around Columbus. The hotel charged me state tax for the first 30 days, then when I hit 30 days, they refunded that state tax back to me.

Check with the front desk or the GM, that's likely what they're doing, but you should confirm it.

The same holds true for PA. Here at least no distinction is made for type of accommodations/facilities, i.e. kitchen.

Also, when I have had an extended stay such as yours, I always received the Rewards points, however I was not there on negotiated rates.

Good luck!

I am receiving a full 5 reward points per dollar plus my marriott visa bonus, plus my platinum bonus. I wanted to switch to the courtyard to earn 10 reward points per dollar spent.

I spoke with the sales rep, and after 30 days, the sales tax is refunded to your room, so everything will work out. Thanks for the feedback!

An unintended consequence to this is that after 30 days, you are liable for income tax to that state and/or city. In most cases the hotels do not report you to the tax authorities, but I've heard of cases where the local cops do a parking lot check every 30 days or so and trace down from the license plates who has been there long enough to be liable for income tax.

Also, sometimes the law is less than 30 days. A story I read in the Boston Globe talked about how the local law was structured so they could charge income tax from out of town sports athletes like MLB players for the few days they stayed at hotels playing the local team. Since these guys make millions, charging them income tax for 3 to 4 days of the year generates a lot of income.

[QUOTE=fried]An unintended consequence to this is that after 30 days, you are liable for income tax to that state and/or city. In most cases the hotels do not report you to the tax authorities, but I've heard of cases where the local cops do a parking lot check every 30 days or so and trace down from the license plates who has been there long enough to be liable for income tax.
QUOTE]

How does this work? Does this mean you have to pay income tax to this state/city in ADDITION to your resident city/state? Or do you only pay to the place you're now staying at? What if you come from a state w/ state income tax and are now staying in a state w/o state income tax, or vice versa??

Yes
 

As stated by someone else before, you are supposed to pay income taxes in all states and cities in which you derive income - this doesn't just apply to the super rich athletes but to all folks. Most companies will not bother with this and generally if your stay is for a week or two it isin't a big deal. I think all the big consulting companies and others that have significant employee population working away from home comply with this. It is a pain in the rear when having to file tax forms for 4 or more states especially ones with convoluted tax returns like CA or NY.

Edited to add: this also applies if you come from a state with no income tax since the money is considered earned where you actually perform the work (i.e. OH in the example above). In general, you don't get double taxed since you normally take a credit from your resident state for the taxes paid to the other state.

Short answer, after 30 days you become a resident (as you state above) and would pay the same tax as you did at the RI

BTW This is a great CY, I lived there during a relocation for 3 months years ago.....but I hated that 3 min traffic light on Rockside...grrrr

varies by brand but both RI & CY give points on all nights regardless of # of nights

depends on the state....I believe (going back on my memory here from my OH days) OH allows the hotel to refund the taxes once 30 you have stayed 30 consecutive days (OH allows you to change rooms during this time, some states require you to be registered in the same room for the 30 consecutive days)

I believe the town/city would have a difficult time proving you did not leave the state during this time, even if it was only for a few hours (PA is a short distance away from CLE)