Stuttgart levies an overnight accommodation tax of EUR 3.00 per person per night, effective from 1 July 2026. It applies to paid overnight stays (including tourist and business stays) in hotels, inns, guesthouses, private rooms or apartments, youth hostels, holiday apartments, motels, campsites, ships and similar accommodation. Paid day rooms and amounts charged for no-shows, cancellations or deposits are also taxable; a fully free cancellation is not. Stays up to six months are taxed; longer stays generally trigger residence-registration rules. The accommodation operator is the taxpayer, not the guest directly.
Children under 18 are exempt. Student/school groups are exempt when the trip is accompanied by teachers and approved by the school administration. Stays that fall within the basic housing need (for example, emergency accommodation because a home is uninhabitable, or accommodation where a residence is registered) are not taxable rather than exempt. The city states that there are no other exemptions: there is no separate exemption or reduction for business travellers or people with disabilities. Supporting evidence must be submitted with the tax return.
For paid short-term accommodation, the host must register the accommodation business with Stuttgart’s City Treasury within one month of starting operations and file a quarterly tax return by the 15th day after the quarter ends, broken down by month and accommodation site; records and evidence for exempt/non-taxable stays must be retained and supplied. Separately, Stuttgart’s residential-use protection rules require registration before offering or advertising housing to changing short-term occupants. The registration number must be displayed clearly and publicly in every offer/advertisement. Short-term holiday letting is treated as misuse of housing when it exceeds 10 weeks in a calendar year; longer or otherwise unauthorised use may require a misuse permit and possibly further building-law approvals. Fines may apply.