Travelers booking pricier rooms in Tokyo will shoulder the biggest increase once the capital retires its flat-fee lodging charge in favor of a rate tied directly to what guests pay.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is moving to a 3% accommodation tax on hotel and short-term lodging stays, with the change set to begin in April 2027. Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiichiro Murakami signed off on the plan on July 1, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK, with authorities pointing to the rising cost of accommodating a swelling stream of foreign tourists as the reason for the overhaul.
The reach of the tax is also being widened. Guests at hostels and private short-term rentals, previously outside the system, will be pulled in under the new rules. Stays priced below 13,000 yen (P4,930.26) per night, however, will remain exempt.
At present, the city runs a two-step scale. Rooms costing from 10,000 yen to just under 15,000 yen (P3,792.44 to P5,688.65) carry a charge of 100 yen (P37.93) per guest each night, while any stay at 15,000 yen (P5,688.65) or above draws double that, at 200 yen (P75.85) per person nightly.
City officials expect the revised structure to bring in roughly 19 billion yen (P7,207,900,800), earmarking the proceeds for garbage collection and other municipal services.
Tokyo has levied a lodging charge since October 2002. The city’s Bureau of Taxation describes the accommodation tax as “a discretionary special-purpose tax that has been imposed on those who stay in ryokan (Japanese inns) or hotels in Tokyo since October 1, 2002,” a figure reached by multiplying nights stayed against the applicable rate.
