Hotels that rent rooms or spaces to any person on a transient basis, that is, 90 consecutive days or less, must collect both a City tax and a state tax. Transient lodging taxes are due the last day of the month following the month being reported.

The City tax is 6.5 percent of the total amount of the room rental charge, plus $1.25 per room per night. Prior to May 1, 2021, the state transient occupancy tax was 2.0 percent of the total amount of the room rental charge. 

Effective May 1, 2021, the state transient occupancy tax rate increased to 3.0 percent, resulting in a combined City and State tax of 9.5 percent of the room rental charge plus $1.25 per room per night. This is based on a state code amendment to Sections 58.1-1743 and 58.1-1744.

Every hotel collecting City and state transient lodging taxes must file a transient lodging tax return and remit taxes monthly to the City. Monthly returns and remittances must be filed with the Finance Department on or before the last day of each month covering the amount of tax collected during the preceding month.

Persons liable for the tax must file returns with:

Business Tax Section--Transient Lodging Tax
Revenue Division, Department of Finance
P.O. Box 34842
Alexandria, VA 22334-0939

Payments along with returns may be submitted to the address above or online at Business Tax Portal.

Blank returns may be downloaded here: 

Transient Lodging Tax Return 

or

Virginia Universal Transient Occupancy Tax Return

For more information, contact our office at:

Business Tax Section
301 King Street, Room 1700
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.746.4800
Email: businesstax@alexandriava.gov

Accommodations Intermediary - Any person other than an accommodations provider that facilitates the sale of an accommodation, charges a room charge to the customer, and charges an accommodations fee to the customer, which fee it retains as compensation for facilitating the sale. For purposes of this definition, "facilitates the sale" includes brokering, coordinating, or in any other way arranging for the purchase of the right to use accommodations via a transaction directly, including via one or more payment processors, between a customer and an accommodations provider.

Hotel - Any public or private hotel, inn, apartment hotel, hostelry, tourist home or house, motel, rooming house, short-term residential rental as defined by Section 3-2-152, or other lodging place within the City offering lodging to any transient for compensation. 

Person - Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, person acting in a representative capacity or any group of individuals acting as a unit.

Transient - Any person who, for a period of not more than 90 consecutive days or, for short-term residential rentals, for a period of fewer than 30 consecutive days, either at his expense or at the expense of another, obtains lodging at a cost in a hotel for a period of not more than 90 consecutive days.

All hosts of Short-Term Residential Rentals are required by law to Register with the Department of Finance

• Register My Rental Property

See Section 3-2-152 of the Code of the City of Alexandria for program requirements and exceptions.

Accommodations Intermediaries

Effective October 1, 2022, the General Assembly of Virginia amended and reenacted legislation relating to sales and transient lodging tax for accommodation intermediaries. As amended, Code of Virginia §58.1-3826 (F) requires accommodations intermediaries to “submit to a locality the property addresses and gross receipts for all accommodations facilitated by the accommodations intermediary in such locality. Such information shall be submitted monthly.” 

Starting with October 2022 transient lodging tax return filing (due on or before November 30, 2022), all accommodation intermediaries are required to remit the supplementary report to the City of Alexandria on a monthly basis. The report should include the property addresses and gross receipts for all accommodations. This information, along with the monthly return, can be uploaded on the Business Tax Portal at https://businesstaxportal.alexandriava.gov/BTP or remitted via mail to PO Box 34842, Alexandria, VA 22334-0842.

Short-Term Residential Rental Property Owners

If you do not utilize accommodation intermediaries to collect the room charges, fees, and taxes on your behalf, you are required to collect and remit the taxes on a monthly basis directly to the City of Alexandria. Please complete the Transient Lodging Tax Return or Virginia Universal Transient Occupancy Tax Return and submit to businesstax@alexandriava.gov along with IRS form W-9.

The City of Alexandria Code Section 3-2-152 requires the operator of each short-term residential property to register with the Department of Finance on an annual basis. Please complete the online registry, reporting each platform you use to advertise your property. All property owners and property managers must register and complete the annual registration.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact our office by phone at 703.746.4800 or by email at businesstax@alexandriava.gov. 

The following are exempted from the transient lodging tax:

• Room rentals paid directly by the federal, state, or City government;
• Room rentals paid to any hospital, medical clinic, convalescent home or home for aged people;
• Room rentals paid by any person enrolled in, and attending full-time, a school, college or university within the corporate limits of the City; and
• Rentals paid by foreign diplomats holding a tax exemption card issued by the U.S. State Department.

Any business more than two months past due in the payment of admissions, meal sales, or transient lodging taxes may be required to post a bond for these taxes. Since fiduciary taxes collected from customers are held in trust by the business owner, they should not be commingled with the business' operating funds.

Persons liable for the tax should keep current and accurate records for a period of three years for audit by the City.