Room Occupancy Tax

On December 16, 1991, the Wake County Commissioners levied the Room Occupancy Gross Receipts Tax in accordance with Chapter 594 of the 1991 Sessions Laws of the North Carolina General Assembly. The ordinance levying the tax provides as follows:

Section 1. Room Occupancy Tax. The County of Wake hereby imposes and levies a tax of six percent (6%) of the gross receipts derived by any person, firm, corporation or association from the rental of any room, lodging or accommodation furnished by a hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp or similar place within the County that is subject to the State sales tax imposed under Section 105-164.4 (a) (3) of the North Carolina General Statutes. This tax shall not apply to accommodations furnished by nonprofit charitable, educational, benevolent or religious organizations when furnished and furtherance of their nonprofit purpose or to accommodations furnished to the same person for at least ninety (90) consecutive days.

Please read the notice published by the NC Department of Revenue, which provides further detail on the types of retailers and charges subject to the Room Occupancy gross receipts tax.

It is the responsibility of the retailer to contact the Wake County Revenue Department to establish a tax account number for reporting purposes. This can be done by calling our office at 919-856-5999, or by filling out a Room Occupancy Tax Application and mailing to:

Wake County Revenue Department
Gross Receipts Division
P.O. Box 2719
Raleigh NC 27602-2719

Once a tax account number is established, a coupon booklet will by sent to the retailer for use in their monthly filing. To view a sample coupon, select the link on the right-hand side of your screen.

General Filing Information

1. Reports must be received or U.S. postmarked on or before the 20th day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues. Payment of tax due including penalties for late payment (if applicable) must be remitted with this form.
2. Remittance should be made by check or money order made payable to: Wake County Revenue Department.
3. One check for all locations will be accepted; however, a separate report for each location must be submitted.
4. If the report is RECEIVED after the due date, add a penalty of 5% of the Occupancy Tax Due as shown on line 4. If the tax is not PAID when due, add a penalty of 10% of the Occupancy Tax Due as shown on line 4. Should the report be RECEIVED more than 30 days late, an additional tax of 5% of the Occupancy Tax Due should be added for each 30 days or fraction thereof. In essence, the State Law requires a 15% penalty any month the report and tax are not RECEIVED by the due date. Failure to file penalty is 5% per month or any portion thereof up to 25% of the tax due, plus a 10% failure to pay penalty. Other penalties may apply. (G.S. 105-236. PENALTIES.)
5. Reports must be filed each month even though no tax is due. Applicable penalty will be due for late filing, minimum $5 (see #4 above).

RETURN CHECK PENALTIES: N.C. General Statute 105-357 states: "The penalty for giving in payment of taxes a check that is returned because of insufficient funds or nonexistence of a account of the drawer is twenty-five dollars ($25) or 10%, whichever is greater of the amount of the check.”

In addition, N.C. General Statute 25-3-506 states: “A processing fee, not to exceed $25, for a check on which payment has been refused by the payer bank because of insufficient funds or because the drawer did not have an account at that bank, may be charged and collected.”

Instructions for Completing Remittance Coupon       (VIEW SAMPLE COUPON)

Line 1: Gross Retail Receipts are those receipts from gross retail sales as reported on the North Carolina Department of Sales and Use Tax Report, excluding Sales Tax.

Line 2: Non-occupancy Related Receipts are:

(a) Receipts from retail sales that are not derived from “rentals of any sleeping room or lodging furnished.” “Room” – a partitioned part of the inside of a building designated or used as lodging. Includes suites of rooms that have, in one or more rooms or areas, sleeping accommodations, whether or not actually used by the occupants.

(b) Receipts for which the business did not collect a sales tax due to a statutory exemption

Line 3: Occupancy receipts after the 90th consecutive day are receipts derived from the rental of a room to the same person for that portion of the continuous rental of the room after the 90th consecutive day of rental. Credits on previously charged exempt receipts are available upon documentation of tax paid on retail receipts that were from room rentals to the same person for days 1–89 in a rental of 90 consecutive days or more and were included in gross receipts in the report for the prior month.

Line 4: Credits on previously charged exempt receipts are available upon documentation of tax paid on retail receipts that were from room rentals to the same person for days 1-89 in a rental of 90 consecutive days or more and were included in gross receipts in the report for the prior month.

Line 5: Net Retail Receipts – Subtract Lines 2, 3, and 4 from Line 1.

Line 6: Occupancy Tax Due – Multiply the total from Line 5 by .06 to compute the tax due.

Line 7: Penalty Due – Refer to Item 4 in the General Instructions.

Line 8: Total Tax Due – Add Line 6 and Line 7.

Line 9: Balance Due or (Credit) Due – If you receive a notice from our office during the month indicating you have a balance or credit on your account, enter that figure on this line.

Line 10: Total Tax Remitted – Total Tax Due from Line 8 plus any balance due or less any credit due shown on Line 9. Make your check or money order payable for this amount.