Bexar County Increases Hotel Occupancy Tax to 2%, but the Rollout Is a Little Messy
Bexar County has increased its hotel occupancy tax (HOT) from 1.75% to 2%, bringing the combined state, city, and county tax rate for short-term rentals within San Antonio to 17%.
Voters approved the increase in November 2025, but the County didn't formally adopt the change until October 13, 2026. The additional revenue will support improvements to local sports and entertainment facilities, including partial funding for the proposed new Spurs arena.
The increase itself is small. On a $200 taxable reservation, the additional tax is just $0.50. On a $1,000 reservation, it's $2.50.
Unfortunately, the rollout has created an unnecessary headache for short-term rental hosts.
What Hosts Need to Know
The new HOT rates for properties within San Antonio city limits are:
Taxing Authority | Rate |
State of Texas | 6% |
City of San Antonio | 9% |
Bexar County | 2% |
Total | 17% |
According to the City of San Antonio's Finance Department, reservations with checkout dates before November 1 can remain at the old rate. Reservations with checkout dates after November 1 are subject to the new rate, even if they were booked months ago.
And that's where the problem begins.
What About Reservations Already Paid in Full?
Many guests book and pay for their Airbnb stays months in advance. Airbnb does not collect and remit the Bexar County portion of HOT, so hosts are responsible for collecting and paying that tax themselves.
Consider a guest who booked a November stay back in July. The reservation was paid in full, based on the tax rate in effect at the time. Now the County expects the additional 0.25%, even though the host cannot simply change the price of a confirmed reservation.
According to Finance, the full tax must be paid. That means hosts may have to cover the difference out of their rental income.
For most reservations, we're talking about a small amount of money. For larger bookings, hosts can use Airbnb's Resolution Center to request an additional payment from the guest. However, guests are not guaranteed to agree to the request.
What Should Hosts Do?
Update your tax settings. Make sure you're collecting the new 2% Bexar County HOT on applicable reservations in your booking platforms and PMS.
Review existing reservations. Check upcoming stays with checkout dates after November 1, particularly those booked before the increase.
Calculate the difference. The additional tax is 0.25% of taxable rental charges.
Decide how to handle the difference. For smaller reservations, absorbing the additional tax may be the simplest solution. For larger bookings, consider requesting the difference through your PMS, or booking platform, such as Airbnb's Resolution Center.
Remit the full tax every month. The County's increase applies regardless of whether you collected the additional amount from the guest.
Better Communication Would Have Helped
The County's decision to implement a tax increase in mid-October, with little time to address reservations booked months earlier, created an avoidable problem. Some City STR and tax resources also continued showing the old 1.75% rate after the increase was announced.
We support responsible tax collection and compliance, but we also believe government agencies should provide timely, consistent information when changing the rules.
This isn't a major financial burden for most hosts. It's simply another example of how a small administrative change can create unnecessary work and cost
when the implementation isn't well coordinated.
For more information, visit the City of San Antonio's HOT webpage or the Bexar County Venue Tax Project.
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