Hamburg’s Kultur- und Tourismustaxe is not a single flat visitor-tax rate: it is charged per guest and night according to the net accommodation price per person, excluding VAT and ancillary services. For bookings from 1 January 2025, the published brackets are: up to €10 = €0; over €10 to €25 = €0.60; over €25 to €50 = €1.20; over €50 to €100 = €2.40; over €100 to €150 = €3.60; over €150 to €200 = €4.80. Above €200, add €1.20 for each started additional €50 of net accommodation price. The numeric field uses €4.80 as the representative nominal rate (the published rate at the €200 bracket), not as a universal flat rate. The tax is calculated per person, not per room; the accommodation operator is the taxpayer and may pass it on to the guest but need not show it separately on the invoice.
There is no general exemption for children, minors, youth-hostel guests, day rooms, or business travellers. Since 1 January 2023, compulsory business-related stays are taxable as well. No tax is due where the net accommodation price is €10 or less per person. Accommodation of people in special social situations, including hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, residential and nursing homes, hospices and comparable facilities, is outside the statutory concept of taxable accommodation; emergency-shelter accommodation is also not covered. A necessary accompanying person is exempt when the traveller provides the required proof; the traveller remains taxable. Cancelled bookings that were not actually provided are not taxable.
Short-term accommodation of under two months, including holiday apartments and private accommodation, is covered by the Hamburg tax. Operators must notify the Hamburg tax office before starting or ending the activity, changing operator, or relocating the accommodation; file and pay quarterly by 15 April, 15 July, 15 October and 15 January, or annually by 15 January where the prior-year tax was under €1,000 and is expected to remain so; record guest names and length of stay and retain the records and relevant business-travel evidence for four years. For short-term letting of self-used housing, a Wohnraumschutznummer (housing-protection registration number) is required even where the use is permit-free, including letting one’s own home for no more than eight weeks per calendar year. The number must be displayed clearly in every advertisement or listing; registration does not replace the Kultur- und Tourismustaxe notification and filing duties. Hamburg’s housing-protection rules address the prohibition on misappropriation of housing (Zweckentfremdung).