Any individual or business renting out property or rooms to paying guests for overnight stays on a short term basis in the City of Olean is required to register with the City, collect the tax from their guests and pay the tax to the City quarterly.

Just fill out this simple one-page registration form and send it to the City Auditor’s office via email, mail, or drop-off. The Auditor will then provide you with a Certificate of Authority, which authorizes you to collect the tax on behalf of the City. By law, you must display this Certificate of Authority on the premises so that your guests can see it. Please note that the Certificate is non-assignable and non-transferable and must be surrendered immediately to the Auditor upon the cessation of business at the property/hotel named on the Certificate or upon its sale or transfer.

Tax is due on the following dates for taxes collected during the following quarterly periods:

• 1st Quarter – January, February March (Due April 20)
• 2nd Quarter – April, May June (Due July 20)
• 3rd Quarter – July, August September (Due Oct. 20)
• 4th Quarter - October, November December (Due Jan. 20)

Please send form and tax to:

City of Olean
c/o the Auditor’s Office
101 East State Street
Olean NY 14760

All registered properties should submit returns quarterly even if the amount due in a given quarter is $0.

The tax must be shown separately on the bill, and is 5% of rents/room charges.

Yes, please fill out returns correctly and submit payment on time. The City also has a number of powers at its disposal to collect unpaid taxes. For additional details, see the room tax law.

Call it either “tax on occupancy of hotel rooms” or “City tax”.

All City room tax revenues, after administration expenses, will be allocated to support tourism and economic development within the City of Olean.

To support tourism and economic development. By law, City room tax revenues can only be for this purpose.

No, they are different. Cattaraugus County collects a 5% hotel room occupancy tax on overnight stays anywhere in Cattaraugus County, including in the City of Olean. The City of Olean now also collects a separate 5% tax on overnight stays in the City of Olean.

Stays booked through Airbnb and other short-term rentals booked independently or through other online booking services are subject to the tax. Follow the instructions above to register for the tax with the City. Airbnb DOES NOT currently collect and remit City room tax on behalf of its hosts in the City of Olean, as it does for the County room tax. Therefore, each Airbnb/Short Term Rental property in the City of Olean must independently register with the City and charge guests the 5% room tax. You may be able to have Airbnb add City occupancy tax to a listing for you. Please see this article from Airbnb on your options for manually collecting occupancy tax on Airbnb listings.

Permanent residents are exempt. Under the City of Olean’s room tax law, a permanent resident is defined as anyone renting the property for more than 30 consecutive days. Certain types of stays that have a charitable or government purpose may be exempt. To qualify as an exempt stay, the guest must provide a valid New York State sales tax exemption certificate to the operator. The stay is taxable if the operator does not receive the certificate.

For questions about tax registration and payment, please contact Lens Martial, City Auditor, Olean Municipal Building, 10 East State Street, Olean, NY 14760. 716.376-5613.