Sec. 3. (a) The fiscal body of a county may levy a tax on every person engaged in the business of renting or furnishing, for periods of less than thirty (30) days, any room or rooms, lodgings, or accommodations in any:

(1) hotel;

(2) motel;

(3) inn; or

(4) tourist cabin;

that has thirty (30) or more rooms for rent and is located in the county.

     (b) The tax does not apply to gross income received in a transaction in which:

(1) a student rents lodgings in a college or university residence hall while that student participates in a course of study for which the student receives college credit from a college or university located in the county; or

(2) a person rents a room, lodging, or accommodations for a period of thirty (30) days or more.

     (c) Subject to subsection (g), the tax may not exceed the rate of eight percent (8%) on the gross retail income derived from lodging income only and is in addition to the state gross retail tax imposed under IC 6-2.5.

     (d) The county fiscal body may adopt an ordinance to require that the tax shall be paid monthly to the county treasurer. If such an ordinance is adopted, the tax shall be paid to the county treasurer not more than twenty (20) days after the end of the month the tax is collected. If such an ordinance is not adopted, the tax shall be imposed, paid, and collected in exactly the same manner as the state gross retail tax is imposed, paid, and collected under IC 6-2.5.

     (e) All of the provisions of IC 6-2.5 relating to rights, duties, liabilities, procedures, penalties, definitions, exemptions, and administration are applicable to the imposition and administration of the tax imposed under this section except to the extent those provisions are in conflict or inconsistent with the specific provisions of this chapter or the requirements of the county treasurer. If the tax is paid to the department of state revenue, the return to be filed for the payment of the tax under this section may be either a separate return or may be combined with the return filed for the payment of the state gross retail tax as the department of state revenue may, by rule, determine.

     (f) If the tax is paid to the department of state revenue, the taxes the department of state revenue receives under this section during a month shall be paid, by the end of the next succeeding month, to the county treasurer upon warrants issued by the state comptroller.

     (g) This subsection applies only if the county fiscal body increases the tax rate to more than five percent (5%). The portion of the tax rate that exceeds five percent (5%) shall expire on December 31, 2045.

As added by P.L.97-1983, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.108-1987, SEC.17; P.L.62-1990, SEC.8; P.L.67-1997, SEC.22; P.L.175-2018, SEC.19; P.L.9-2024, SEC.235; P.L.121-2024, SEC.2.