Denver per diem rates FY2027

Denver lodging cap by month

For Denver hotels: the cap against your ADR

Hotel tax, season and changes in Denver

Hotel tax for federal travellers in Denver

Denver collects its own lodger's tax on top of state and district sales tax. The city's 2026 tax guide puts the lodger's tax at 10.75%, notes that Colorado also charges 4% sales tax on lodging, and gives a total of 14.75% in the city^[6]. Colorado's own state sales tax rate is 2.9%^[8], and the city's guide describes the 4% as state and special district tax^[7]. An older city guide adds a 1% Tourism Improvement District tax for hotels with 50 or more rooms^[7], and Colorado's own guide confirms that sales tax applies to the entire charge for rooms and accommodations^[9]. GSA's per diem lodging cap includes none of these taxes^[3].

State and city treat federal travellers differently. The Colorado Department of Revenue says purchases on a centrally billed account may qualify for exemption from the state taxes it administers, but purchases on an individually billed account do not^[10]. It adds that lodging charged to the GSA Tax Advantage card is billed automatically to a centrally billed account, and that a DR 5002 declaration may be completed for a tax-exempt purchase by a government body but is not required^[10]. The same guide says it does not cover the taxes of home-rule cities that collect their own^[10]. Denver, which collects its own lodger's tax, is stricter in its January 2019 guide: a government credit card does not change the rules, because the card is a convenience and the employee is responsible for the bill, and an exempt stay must be billed to and paid by the agency itself, with an affidavit of exempt sale kept by the hotel^[7]. The guide works this through with the example of a Defense Department employee who pays on her government card, and concludes that her stay is still taxed^[7]. GSA's SmartPay page for Colorado covers the state sales tax and names the DR 5002 declaration^[11]. For a Denver hotel, that guide means a federal guest paying on an individually billed government card is charged the lodger's tax^[7]. It does not say whether a centrally billed card counts as the agency paying, and it is several years old, so check with the city's Treasury Division before treating any card stay as exempt.

When Denver's cap peaks

GSA sets Denver's cap higher from April to October and lower from November to March. We found no official source that explains this pattern, so we describe it only from GSA's table above.

What changed from FY2026

By hotels.tools' calculation from GSA rates, Denver's lodging cap rose in 12 months from FY2026 to FY2027, by between +$5 and +$12 a night. Averaged over Denver's 12 months, by hotels.tools' calculation from GSA rates, the cap went from $194.17 to $203.25 a night (+$9.08). GSA kept Denver's M&IE rate at $92 a day in both years. That moved Denver more than GSA's standard lodging rate, by hotels.tools' calculation from GSA rates.

Meals and incidentals in Denver

Where the Denver rate applies

GSA's Denver / Aurora locality covers Denver / Adams / Arapahoe / Jefferson, listed under CO.

IRS high-low status in Denver

Long stays in Denver: 13-week totals

Frequently asked questions