GBTA Ranks Cities Based on Tax Expenses for Travelers

Visitors to Portland, Ore., pay more in special taxes on lodging, dining and car rentals than any other major travel destination in the United States, but because Oregon has no general sales tax, Portland also ranks as the city with the fifth lowest overall tax burden for travelers. That’s according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which today released its annual list of travel taxes in the Top 50 U.S. travel destinations. Visitors to these cities paid an average of 57% more in taxes on their travel expenses than they would have if these services were taxed at the same rate as other goods and services. In Boston, for example, that means an extra $19.17 in taxes each day, which helped make Boston the destination with the third highest tax burden when general sales taxes were also taken into account.

Here are the five cities with the most additional daily taxes on travel expenses:

1. Portland, Ore.: $22.45
2. Boston: $19.17
3. Chicago: $16.49
4. New York: $15.74
5. Minneapolis: $15.45

The five cities with the least additional taxes on travel were all in Southern California:

1. Burbank, Calif.: $1.81
2. Orange County, Calif.: $3.36
3. Ontario, Calif.: $4.66
4. San Diego: $5.43
5. Los Angeles: $5.95

Adding in general sales taxes, these five cities had the largest daily tax expenses for travelers:

1. Chicago: $40.31
2. New York: $37.98
3. Boston: $34.83
4. Kansas City, Mo.: $34.58
5. Seattle: $34.43

These cities had the smallest overall daily tax expenses for travelers:

1. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: $22.21
2. Fort Myers, Fla.: $22.21
3. West Palm Beach, Fla.: $22.21
4. Detroit: $22.37
5. Portland, Ore.: $22.45

The complete report is available for free to GBTA members. Nonmembers may purchase the report by contacting pyachnes@gbtafoundation.org. gbta.org