North Bay City Council approved the implementation of a mandatory 4% Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) effective February 1, 2019. In accordance with By-Law 2018-84, MAT will apply to the purchase of accommodations provided for a continuous period of less than 30 days.
The Municipal Accommodation Tax is added to the price of an accommodation booked in the City of North Bay as required by law. It applies to all accommodations of less than 30 consecutive days.
The rate is 4% of the total room cost before HST.
The MAT tax became effective February 1, 2019.
The 4% is only applied to the purchase price of the accommodation (i.e. room fee) and it does not apply to amenity fees or service charges as long as they are itemized separately on your invoice.
No, the MAT is mandatory. It must be paid at the same time you are paying the accommodation provider.
If the accommodation provider is registered for HST, then they are responsible for collecting and remitting the HST on the entire charge including the MAT.
Some municipalities do not have a Municipal Accommodation Tax, but rather a voluntary “Destination Marketing Fee”. These fees were sometimes removed by the hotels at a guest’s request. Municipal Accommodation Tax is a mandatory tax authorized through a local By-Law, and the charge cannot be removed.
Payment of the Municipal Accommodation Tax is mandatory and is authorized by City By-Law 2018-84.
Yes, there is no exemption from the MAT for medical related travelling. Many accommodation establishments (including those in North Bay) offer compassionate rates that are applied at their own discretion.
The Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care provides funding through the Northern Health Travel Grant for eligible applicants, based on the distance to their closest medical specialist or Ministry funded health care facility able to provide the required health care services. For more information visit their website.
If you are charged for the accommodation whether or not you actually occupy the room, then MAT will apply. If you do not cancel your room reservation and you are charged for accommodation (no-show included) the MAT will be charged. If you are not charged for the accommodation but subject to a cancellation fee, the MAT would not apply.
40% of the net revenue from the MAT will go to the municipality to be applied to various infrastructure investments which support tourism assets. The other 60% of the net revenue will go to Tourism North Bay. As an eligible tourism entity Tourism North Bay will administer the funds for tourism promotion and development, including a focus on attracting people to the city, support bid opportunities, and more.
The Municipal Act gives the authority to all municipalities to implement MAT in their community. At last count there are more than 18 communities with the MAT in place or approved to begin implementing. Industry assumptions are that most Ontario communities will be charging the MAT within the next few years.