Travelers incur the highest average daily tax burden in Chicago at $40.31, according to the GBTA Foundation.
Considering general sales taxes on car rentals, hotel stays and meals, and what it terms as "discriminatory travel taxes" in the top 50 U.S. travel markets, GBTA found that New York ($37.98) and Boston ($34.58) followed Chicago at the top of the list.
The three U.S. cities with the lowest overall taxes facing travelers are in Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, each with an average of $22.21. They were followed by Detroit ($22.37), Portland, Ore. ($22.45) and Orange County, Calif. ($22.79).
Looking only at discriminatory travel taxes, described by GBTA as "those imposed specifically on travel services above and beyond general sales taxes," GBTA reported that Burbank, Calif., had the lowest at $1.81, well below the next lowest, Orange County ($3.36). Portland, Ore., had the highest at $22.45, the only one of the 50 examined cities above $20.
Across all 50 cities, "discriminatory travel taxes and fees enacted on travel-related services impose an average increased cost on visitors of 57% over general sales tax," according to GBTA.
Source: Business Travel News