Guests at the hotels around Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) pay an accommodation tax, commonly called a bed tax or city tax. It is 7.5% of the net room rate, whether the hotel lies in the municipality of Schönefeld or on Berlin city territory. Business travellers are no longer exempt. Which exemptions apply depends on whether your hotel sits in Schönefeld or in Berlin: Schönefeld exempts children under 16 and local residents, Berlin has neither of those exemptions. This guide explains the rate, the jurisdiction and the exemptions.
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The tax is 7.5% of the taxable base, which is only the pure room rate excluding VAT. Breakfast, parking, wellness or other services do not count. If a package rate is not itemised, the municipality of Schönefeld deducts fixed amounts before calculating the tax: € 12 for breakfast and € 15 each for lunch and dinner, per guest and meal.
Which tax applies to your hotel depends on the municipal border, but the rate is identical:
On the hotel bill, the tax appears as “Übernachtungssteuer” (Schönefeld) or “City Tax” (Berlin). The hotel collects it automatically.
The municipality of Schönefeld lists an exhaustive set of exemptions. You are exempt if you show the hotel a suitable proof:
Berlin’s list is different, and that is the most important distinction: the State of Berlin has no age limit and no exemption for local residents. What is not taxed there are medically necessary stays, people accompanying a guest with a disability, class and school trips, stays during renovation or building work, and accommodation for homeless people and asylum seekers. So a child who stays tax-free in Schönefeld does pay in Bohnsdorf or Adlershof.
Guests who do not actually stay overnight are outside the tax as well: in Schönefeld, day rooms (day use) and late check-out are generally not subject to the accommodation tax, because no overnight stay takes place.
Business travellers are not exempt. Following a 2022 ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, professionally motivated stays are taxable; an employer certificate or an invoice made out to the company does not change that, not even when the company pays for the stay. The same applies in Berlin: business trips there have been taxable since 1 April 2024, and the former exemption for stays longer than 21 days has been removed. One exception in Schönefeld covers only bookings and corporate contracts firmly agreed up to and including 22 December 2025; those stay tax-free. Stays longer than 6 months no longer count as temporary and are also tax-free.
Proof goes through the hotel, not the municipality. Fill in the municipality of Schönefeld’s exemption form (a self-declaration with checkboxes for the exemption grounds) and attach the relevant proof, such as the doctor’s certificate or proof of age. The hotel keeps the documents for a possible audit. It is best to sort out the exemption at booking or check-in, so it is applied correctly on the bill.
Yes. Since 2026 the municipality of Schönefeld charges a 7.5% accommodation tax on the net room rate; on Berlin territory (Bohnsdorf, Adlershof) the Berlin city tax applies at the same rate. Only the room rate is taxed, not breakfast, parking or wellness. The hotel collects the tax automatically and shows it on the bill.
No, not any more. Following a 2022 ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, professionally motivated stays are taxable; an employer certificate or an invoice to the company does not grant an exemption, not even when the company pays. In Berlin, business trips have been taxable since 1 April 2024. Only bookings and corporate contracts firmly agreed before 22 December 2025 remain tax-free in Schönefeld.
In Schönefeld the exempt groups are mainly children under 16, medically necessary stays (with a doctor's certificate, accompanying person included), people resident in Schönefeld and certain trainees and youth groups up to age 27. You prove it through the hotel: fill in the municipality's self-declaration form and attach the relevant document (certificate, proof of age), ideally already at booking or check-in.
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