A Boston hotel quotes you $300. The card is charged $344.85 — before anyone has parked a car. The gap is not a booking error: it is three lodging taxes, stacked, adding 14.95% to every room night sold in the city. The City states the figure itself in its FY27 budget: "The total tax from all sources is 14.95%."
Boston's own 6.5% slice of that brought in $147.1 million in FY2025, with $162.1 million budgeted for FY2027 (City of Boston, Revenue Estimates and Analysis, FY27 Budget, April 2026). Knowing how the 14.95% is assembled is the difference between a budget that holds and one that slips on the last screen of the booking flow.
Three taxes, one line on the folio
Massachusetts taxes short-term room rent through a state excise plus local add-ons. The state rate is 5.7% — the statute sets 5%, and a surtax outside Chapter 64G adds 0.7% (Massachusetts DOR, TIR 19-3). Cities and towns may then adopt a local excise, with one exception written into the law itself: MGL c. 64G, § 3A caps the local rate at "not more than 6 per cent," except for Boston, where the ceiling is "not more than 6.5 per cent." Boston levies the full 6.5%.
The third layer is the Convention Center Financing Fee, an extra 2.75% that the Department of Revenue applies in six municipalities only: "Boston, Worcester, Cambridge, Springfield, West Springfield, and Chicopee." It feeds the Convention Center Fund created by the 1997 Convention Center Act, which reimbursed the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority up to a statutory $28 million in FY2025 (MCCA audited financial statements, year ended 30 June 2025).
| Line | Rate | On a $300 room (example rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Room rate (example, not an average) | — | $300.00 |
| Massachusetts state room occupancy excise | 5.7% | $17.10 |
| City of Boston local room occupancy excise | 6.5% | $19.50 |
| Convention Center Financing Fee | 2.75% | $8.25 |
| Total tax | 14.95% | $44.85 |
| Amount charged | — | $344.85 |
One layer people expect here is absent. The Community Preservation Act surcharge — capped at "not more than 3% of the tax levy against real property" (Community Preservation Coalition) — attaches to the owner's property tax bill, not to your transaction. Boston has adopted CPA, but it never appears on a guest folio.
Why a resort fee is taxed at 14.95% too
Massachusetts defines taxable rent broadly. Regulation 830 CMR 64G.1.1 counts "the total consideration paid by or on behalf of an occupant, including payment for any service, cleaning or other charge," and names booking fees, service charges, cleaning fees and mandatory amenities. A $35 "destination fee" or "urban fee" is therefore not a $35 line: it is $35 plus $5.23 of tax, $40.23 in real money, pushing the same $300 room to $385.08.
These fees remain legal. The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464) took effect on May 12, 2025 and covers "short-term lodging, including temporary sleeping accommodations at a hotel, motel, inn, short-term rental, vacation rental." It requires a business to "disclose the total price more prominently than any other pricing information" — but the FTC was explicit that the rule "preserves flexibility for businesses by not prohibiting any type or amount of fee." One carve-out explains why the final screen still jumps: government charges "may be excluded" from the displayed total price, provided they are disclosed clearly and conspicuously before you pay. Mandatory resort fees must now sit in the headline number. The 14.95% legally need not.
Parking is the other 10%
Downtown parking is not a tax, but it moves a budget like one. The Boston Common Garage, the public garage under the Common, publishes $30 for up to 10 hours and $38 for up to 24 hours (2026 rate schedule). Street parking is no overnight substitute: the City charges $3.75 an hour in Back Bay and the South Boston Waterfront, $2.50 in Fenway/Kenmore and $2.00 in most other metered areas, Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hotel valet is priced by each property and is not a published municipal rate.
Cross the city line and the rate falls
The 2.75% convention centre fee is geographic. Cambridge is on the DOR list; Somerville and Brookline are not. With the 6% ceiling that applies everywhere outside Boston, that produces a measurable spread.
| Municipality | State | Local option | Convention Center Fee | Maximum total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 5.7% | 6.5% (levied) | 2.75% | 14.95% |
| Cambridge | 5.7% | up to 6.0% (statutory cap) | 2.75% | up to 14.45% |
| Somerville | 5.7% | up to 6.0% (statutory cap) | none | up to 11.70% |
| Brookline | 5.7% | up to 6.0% (statutory cap) | none | up to 11.70% |
What the numbers say
Add 14.95% to any Boston rate you are shown, and multiply any mandatory fee by 1.1495 too. On a $300 room, tax alone is $44.85 a night — $179.40 over four nights. Somerville or Brookline cap the tax at 11.70%, saving at least $9.75 a night on the same rate, or $39 over four nights, purely because they levy no convention centre fee. The gap is real but modest: chase it when base rates are comparable, ignore it when the Boston property is $30 cheaper to start with. Run both in our Boston trip budget calculator.
Frequently asked
What is the total hotel tax in Boston?
14.95%: a 5.7% Massachusetts state room occupancy excise, a 6.5% City of Boston local excise, and a 2.75% Convention Center Financing Fee. The City of Boston confirms the combined figure in its FY27 Revenue Estimates and Analysis (2026).
Are resort fees taxed in Massachusetts?
Yes. 830 CMR 64G.1.1 includes mandatory service, cleaning and booking charges in taxable rent, so a $35 fee carries $5.23 of tax at Boston's 14.95% rate — $40.23 in total.
Did the FTC ban resort fees in 2025?
No. The Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464), effective May 12, 2025, requires the total price to be shown more prominently than any other price, but the FTC states it does not prohibit "any type or amount of fee."
Sources
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Room Occupancy Excise Tax (rates and convention centre fee municipalities), 2026 — link
- Massachusetts DOR, TIR 19-3, Changes to the Room Occupancy Excise, 2019 — link
- Massachusetts General Laws c. 64G, § 3A (local excise, 6% cap; 6.5% Boston) — link
- 830 CMR 64G.1.1, Massachusetts Room Occupancy Excise (definition of rent) — link
- City of Boston, FY27 Budget, Revenue Estimates and Analysis, April 2026 — link
- Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, audited financial statements, FY2025 — link
- Federal Trade Commission, FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees to Take Effect on May 12, 2025, 5 May 2025 — link
- 16 CFR Part 464, Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, eCFR, 2026 — link
- Community Preservation Coalition, About the Community Preservation Act, 2026 — link
- City of Boston, How do parking meters work (meter rates), 2026 — link
- Boston Common Garage, published rate schedule, 2026 — link
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