With a revision effective March 1, 2026, Kyoto City’s lodging tax became a five-tier levy of ¥200 to ¥10,000 per person per night, set by the room charge per guest. Before the revision it had three tiers of ¥200 to ¥1,000, so the upper tiers have widened sharply. This article is written for operators and investors running hotels, ryokan and simple lodging (kan-i shukusho) in Kyoto City. We first confirm the facts of the system against Kyoto City’s official materials, then convert MetroEngines Research’s ward-level ADR to a per-person, per-night basis to show which tax tier properties in the city fall into, how the tier shifts between listed prices and estimated settled prices, and where Kyoto’s five-tier flat-rate design sits next to Tokyo, Niseko, Nasu and Morioka.

The Rules — Five Tiers From March 1, 2026, Capped at ¥10,000

Let us first confirm the framework on Kyoto City’s official pages. The Kyoto City lodging tax is a non-statutory earmarked tax (hotei-gai mokuteki-zei). The taxpayers are guests staying at ryokan, hotels, simple lodging facilities and private-lodging (minpaku) properties in the city; the special collection agents are the businesses operating under the Inns and Hotels Act or the Private Lodging Business Act. The amount is set by the room charge per person per night, and the revision applies on a stay-date basis. According to Kyoto City, the revision received the consent of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications on October 3, 2025, and took effect for stays from March 1, 2026. Its ¥10,000 cap is the highest of any flat-rate lodging tax in Japan.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from Kyoto City, "About the Lodging Tax" and "Notice of Kyoto City Lodging Tax Revision." Before the revision, everything under ¥20,000 was a single ¥200 tier

There are two definitions operators need to pin down. The first is the scope of the "room charge." Kyoto City’s FAQ defines it as "the amount excluding meal charges and consumption tax, and including service charges." In other words, the tax base is the tax-exclusive, room-only equivalent: the meal portion of a breakfast-included plan and consumption tax are excluded when determining the tier. The second is how a room shared by several guests is treated. Kyoto City takes "the room charge divided by the number of guests" as the per-person, per-night room charge. In the city’s own example, a ¥20,000 twin used by two guests is ¥10,000 per person and falls in the ¥400 tier, while the same room used by one guest is ¥20,000 and falls in the ¥1,000 tier. That the same room rate can land in different tiers depending on occupancy affects both rate display and front-desk operations.

Exemptions cover pupils and students taking part in school trips and other school events organized by schools under the School Education Act (excluding universities), and their chaperones; since April 1, 2021, they also cover children aged 3 or older taking part in events of nursery schools, certified child centers and similar facilities, and their chaperones. Each case requires a "certificate of school trip, etc." issued by the school or facility, and the lodging property must keep that certificate for seven years.

Converting Ward ADR to Per Person per Night — Listed and Settled Bases Sit One Tier Apart

So which tax tier are properties in Kyoto City actually operating in? Using MetroEngines Research’s October 2026 ward-level ADR (11 wards of Kyoto City, per-room rate for 2 guests sharing, tax included), we divided the room rate by two to get the per-person, per-night room charge. Two bases are shown side by side. The listed price (all-plan average, tax included) is the average of the selling prices each property publishes; estimated settled ADR is an estimate of the settled rate (tax-exclusive equivalent), obtained by applying a segment-specific adjustment factor to the lowest-plan level. Since the tax base is the tax-exclusive, room-only equivalent, estimated settled ADR is the closer guide for judging the tier, while listed prices run higher because they include meal plans and consumption tax.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research. October 2026 (estimates based on listed levels at the time of the survey). Both listed price and estimated settled ADR are per-room rates for 2 guests sharing; per-person figures are divided by 2. Listed price is tax-inclusive, all-plan average; estimated settled ADR is a tax-exclusive equivalent. Tax tiers are a guide obtained by applying Kyoto City’s brackets; the actual tax base (excluding tax and meals) differs by property

What the table shows is that in three wards — Higashiyama, Shimogyo and Nakagyo — the listed and settled bases fall one tier apart. In Higashiyama, the listed price converts to about ¥26,800 per person, in the ¥1,000 tier, whereas estimated settled ADR converts to about ¥14,800 per person and stays in the ¥400 tier. Shimogyo (about ¥21,800 vs about ¥11,800) and Nakagyo (about ¥21,600 vs about ¥12,100) follow the same pattern: the listed price edges just above the ¥20,000 threshold, while the settled level sits well below it. Estimating the tax from average published prices would suggest ¥1,000, but what most properties are actually collecting is ¥400. In the six wards from Minami Ward onward, both bases are in the ¥400 tier and no shift occurs.

In terms of effective tax rate (tax amount divided by the per-person, per-night rate), Higashiyama is ¥400 / about ¥14,800 = 2.7% on a settled basis, and ¥1,000 / about ¥26,800 = 3.7% on a listed basis. Under a flat-amount system, the closer the rate is to the bottom of its tier, the higher the effective rate: in Fushimi Ward, where the per-person figure of about ¥7,100 is close to the ¥6,000 threshold, it rises to 5.6%, while in Kamigyo Ward, near the top of its tier (about ¥15,200), it drops to 2.6%. Compared with municipalities using a flat 3% rate, Kyoto’s ¥400 tier puts the effective rate above or below 3% around a per-person rate of roughly ¥13,300.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research. October 2026; per-room rate for 2 guests sharing divided by 2. Settled basis is an estimate (tax-exclusive equivalent); listed basis is tax-inclusive, all-plan average. Covers the 9 wards with 5 or more properties in the estimated settled ADR sample

The Tier Moves With the Season — Some Wards Cross the ¥6,000 Threshold

A ward median in the ¥400 tier does not mean the ward stays in that tier all year. Overlaying the monthly per-person estimated settled ADR for 2025 and 2026, Higashiyama Ward stays within the ¥400 tier (¥6,000 to under ¥20,000) throughout the year, whereas Shimogyo and Minami Wards fall below ¥6,000 per person in January–February and June–August (Minami also in September) and enter the ¥200 tier, and Nakagyo Ward also dips below ¥6,000 in June. Shimogyo was about ¥5,500 in February 2026, about ¥5,600 in June and about ¥5,800 in August — less than half of its autumn level of about ¥11,800 (October). In other words, it is not unusual for the same mid-priced property in the city to collect ¥200 in the off-season and ¥400 in peak season. That means the tax amounts shown in front-desk guidance and booking confirmation emails need to change with the season, and configuring the system to determine the tier automatically from the room charge is effective.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research. Monthly median of estimated settled ADR (2 guests per room, tax-exclusive equivalent) divided by 2. Higashiyama N=43–51 properties, Shimogyo N=157–170 properties. October 2026 is an estimate based on listed levels at the time of the survey

How Many Properties Fall in the ¥4,000 and ¥10,000 Tiers — Very Few at the Top

Looking at individual properties rather than ward medians shows how many reach the upper tiers. For five segments in Kyoto City’s 11 wards — business, city, resort, ryokan and capsule — we converted each property’s October 2026 ADR to a per-person figure and applied Kyoto City’s brackets. Of the 483 properties with an estimated settled ADR, 8 (1.7%) fall in the ¥4,000 tier (¥50,000 or more per person): 5 ryokan, 1 city hotel, 1 resort and 1 business hotel. None reach the ¥10,000 tier (¥100,000 or more per person) on a settled basis. On listed prices (all-plan average, tax included), the ¥4,000 tier grows to 30 properties and the ¥10,000 tier to 8, but those figures include higher meal-inclusive plans and consumption tax; on the settled basis, which is closer to the tax base, the top two tiers are limited to small luxury ryokan and a handful of top-end hotels.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research. Five segments (business, city, resort, ryokan, capsule) in Kyoto City’s 11 wards; October 2026 property-level ADR (per-room rate for 2 guests sharing) divided by 2. Estimated settled ADR is a tax-exclusive equivalent estimate; listed price is tax-inclusive, all-plan average

This distribution also shows which segment saw its tax change with the revision. The tax went up for the tiers at ¥20,000 or more per person, which on a settled basis covers 76 of 483 properties (15.7%). The remaining 84% are in the ¥200 or ¥400 tier; they are affected by the ¥6,000–under-¥20,000 band moving from ¥200 to ¥400, but the tax itself stays within a few hundred yen. On listed prices, ¥20,000 or more extends to 228 properties (44.8%), but as noted, listed prices run above the tax base. By segment, 20 of 96 ryokan are in the ¥1,000 tier or above (5 of them in the ¥4,000 tier), as are 22 of 60 city hotels and 27 of 314 business hotels.

Operator Practice — Special Collection, Filing and Tier Determination

With the rules and the rate distribution in view, here is a summary of what special collection agents need to do. From Kyoto City’s guidebook and its FAQ for operators, the points operators deal with day to day are as follows.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from Kyoto City, "Lodging Tax Guidebook and Filing Forms," "Lodging Tax FAQ (for Lodging Operators)" and "FY2026 Lodging Tax Special Collection Subsidy"

A major practical issue is how tax is handled on bookings made through OTAs and other channels. Kyoto City specifies that the tier is determined on the amount before commission — that is, the room charge the guest pays — so operators must not determine the tier from the amount received after the commission is deducted. There is also a distinction on discounts: point discounts on the booking site are assessed on the pre-discount amount, while discounts the property sets itself are assessed on the post-discount amount. Because the same "discounted price" can have a different tax base depending on who bears the discount, where coupon funding sits in plan design can affect the tax tier.

In practice, tier determination is complicated by two overlapping factors: as seen in the previous section, mid-priced properties in the city cross the ¥6,000 threshold with the seasons, and at the ¥20,000 threshold the tier differs between single and double occupancy. At a business hotel with many solo guests, in peak periods when the room rate exceeds ¥20,000, the same room costs ¥400 per guest when shared by two but ¥1,000 when used by one. Configuring the booking engine or PMS to calculate the per-person room charge automatically and set the tax accordingly reduces judgment calls at the front desk. The tiers that rose in the revision are those at ¥20,000 or more per person — ¥500 became ¥1,000, and ¥1,000 became ¥4,000 or ¥10,000 — but on a settled basis only about 16% of properties in the city are affected.

Quick Reference: Room Rate x Number of Guests — The Per-Room Tax Jumps at the ¥20,000, ¥50,000 and ¥100,000 Thresholds

Because the tier is determined per person, the tax per room depends on the combination of room rate and number of guests. Table 5 sets out eight room rates on the tax base (excluding tax and meals, room-only equivalent) against 1 to 3 guests, and lists the total tax per room and the effective rate under Kyoto City’s brackets. For example, a ¥40,000 room shared by two is ¥20,000 per person, in the ¥1,000 tier, for ¥2,000 per room (5.0%); with three guests it is about ¥13,300 per person, stays in the ¥400 tier, and costs ¥1,200 per room (3.0%). A ¥100,000 room comes to ¥8,000 per room (8.0%) for two guests and ¥10,000 (10.0%) for one, a wide gap from the pre-revision ¥2,000 (2.0%) for two. When building occupancy-based rate tables, knowing which combinations put the per-person rate just above a threshold makes it easier to align the tax explanation given to guests with what appears in booking confirmation emails.

Source: Estimated by HotelBank Editorial Team based on the tax brackets and determination method (room charge divided by number of guests) in Kyoto City, "About the Lodging Tax" and "Lodging Tax FAQ — How the Room Charge Is Defined." Figures in parentheses are total tax per room divided by room rate. A value exactly on a threshold falls into the higher tier. "Before revision" refers to stays through February 28, 2026

Comparison With Other Municipalities — Where Kyoto Sits Between a 3% Flat Rate and Six Flat-Amount Tiers

Nationally, meanwhile, lodging taxes are noticeably moving toward percentage rates. Tokyo currently uses flat amounts — no tax under ¥10,000 per person per night, ¥100 from ¥10,000 to under ¥15,000, and ¥200 at ¥15,000 or more — but with the consent of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications on June 30, 2026, it will switch to a 3% rate on the room charge from April 1, 2027, raise the exemption threshold to under ¥13,000, and bring simple lodging and minpaku into scope. Where the ¥13,000 exemption line falls against Tokyo’s actual rates is examined in Tokyo Lodging Tax Goes 3% Flat in April 2027: ¥13,000 Exemption Line. Niseko in Hokkaido introduced a five-tier flat-amount tax (¥100–2,000) only in November 2024, but its town assembly passed an amendment to a 3% rate in December 2025, and the Minister consented on March 27, 2026 (for the estimate that the crossover between flat-amount and percentage systems falls at ¥10,000 per person, see Niseko Accommodation Tax Goes 3% Nov 1, 2026). It is the first switch from flat amounts to a percentage rate in Japan, and the Hokkaido Shimbun reported that the town aims to implement the change in November 2026. Nasu introduced a six-tier flat-amount tax of ¥100–3,000 on October 1, 2026, and Morioka introduced a flat ¥200 per person per night regardless of rate (with no exemption threshold) on the same day. How those tiered and flat designs translate into ratios against actual rates is worked out in Lodging Tax Effective Rates: Nasu 1.05% vs Morioka 3.65%.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from published information by Kyoto City, the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (consultation materials on non-statutory earmarked taxes for Niseko and Morioka), Nasu Town and the Hokkaido Shimbun. Figures in parentheses are effective rates (tax / per-person nightly room charge). All room charges are tax-exclusive, room-only equivalents excluding meals

Seen side by side, Kyoto’s five flat-amount tiers sit roughly level with 3%-rate municipalities below ¥20,000 per person (matching 3% at a rate of ¥13,300), and switch to effective rates above 3% at ¥20,000 and up. The effective rate is 3.3% at ¥30,000 per person, 8.0% at exactly ¥50,000, 6.7% at ¥60,000 and 10.0% at exactly ¥100,000: it jumps just above each threshold and declines as the rate rises within a tier, forming a sawtooth. Nasu’s six finer tiers keep its effective rate within 2–3%, whereas Kyoto’s wider tiers produce bigger steps at the thresholds. And in contrast to Tokyo raising its exemption threshold to ¥13,000 as it moves to a percentage rate, Kyoto charges ¥200 even below ¥6,000, so its base at the low end is broad as well.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from the tax amounts published by each municipality. Horizontal axis: per-person nightly room charge (tax-exclusive, room-only equivalent); vertical axis: tax / room charge. Tokyo (revised) exempts stays under ¥13,000

For investors, this stepped structure bears on product design at the upper-mid price range and above in Kyoto. Once the per-person tax base exceeds ¥50,000 (¥100,000 per room for two guests), the tax switches from ¥1,000 to ¥4,000, and above ¥100,000 (¥200,000 per room) to ¥10,000. Only 8 properties fall in these tiers on a settled basis today, but development of top-end ryokan and hotels continues in Kyoto City, and anyone designing a product around ¥200,000 per room should set rates on the assumption that guests will compare total outlay, including lodging tax, with competing cities. The lodging tax is a non-statutory earmarked tax collected separately from the room charge and is not part of the property’s revenue, but it is part of the price the guest feels.

Summary — What Operators in Kyoto City Should Check

To sum up: from March 1, 2026, Kyoto City’s lodging tax runs in five tiers from ¥200 to ¥10,000 per person per night, and the tax went up for the tiers at ¥20,000 or more per person. Converting MetroEngines Research’s October 2026 ward ADR to a per-person basis, Higashiyama, Shimogyo and Nakagyo Wards are in the ¥1,000 tier on listed prices but the ¥400 tier on estimated settled ADR — one tier apart — with effective rates of 2.7–3.4% on a settled basis. At the property level, 79% of the 483 properties on a settled basis cluster in the ¥400 tier, 8 are in the ¥4,000 tier and none in the ¥10,000 tier. In Shimogyo, Nakagyo and Minami Wards there are off-season months when the per-person figure falls below ¥6,000 and enters the ¥200 tier, so the key operational point is that the tier moves with both season and number of guests.

On the operations side, operators should confirm the following: OTA and other channel bookings are assessed on the guest-paid amount before commission; the property’s own discounts are assessed after discount, while third-party-funded points and travel subsidies are assessed before discount; returns and payment are due by the end of the following month (quarterly if requirements are met), and a return is needed even for ¥0 months; school-trip certificates must be kept for seven years; and a special collection subsidy of 3.5% of tax paid on time is available. With Tokyo moving to a 3% rate in April 2027, Niseko switching to a percentage rate, and Nasu and Morioka introducing new taxes, lodging tax designs are diverging by municipality. Kyoto’s five flat-amount tiers sit at about the same level as a 3% rate below ¥20,000, with large steps in the upper tiers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How is Kyoto City’s lodging tax determined from the rate for a room shared by two?
The room charge (excluding meals and consumption tax) divided by the number of guests is the per-person, per-night room charge. In Kyoto City’s example, a ¥20,000 twin used by two guests is ¥10,000 per person, in the ¥400 tier; used by one guest it is ¥20,000, in the ¥1,000 tier.

Q. Can bookings via OTAs be assessed on the amount after commission?
No. Kyoto City taxes the amount before commission is deducted, that is, the room charge the guest pays. The tier is based on the selling price, not on the amount received.

Q. Which tax tier are most properties in the city in?
Converting MetroEngines Research’s October 2026 estimated settled ADR to a per-person basis, of 483 properties in Kyoto City’s 11 wards, 79% are in the ¥400 tier (¥6,000 to under ¥20,000 per person), 14% in the ¥1,000 tier, 8 properties in the ¥4,000 tier and none in the ¥10,000 tier. On listed prices (tax included, all-plan average), the share in the ¥1,000 tier or above widens to 45%.

Q. Do stays booked before the revision keep the old tax amount?
No. The revision applies on a stay-date basis. Stays on or after March 1, 2026, are taxed at the revised amount regardless of booking date; if the old amount was collected at booking, the property bills the guest for the difference.

Q. When are lodging tax returns and payments due?
In principle, by the end of the month following the month of stay. A return is required even for months with ¥0 tax, and if requirements such as lodging tax of ¥4.8 million or less over the most recent 12 months are met, the operator can apply to switch to quarterly filing and payment.