Yakima County, WA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Yakima County Code Chapter 3.05, titled Accommodations Tax - Convention Center Fund, levies a special excise tax of two percent on the sale of, or charge made for, furnishing lodging in the unincorporated county. Section 3.05.010 lists the taxable categories by name: a hotel, roominghouse, tourist court, motel, trailer camp, and any similar license to use real property. That last clause reaches short-term rentals and other lodging arrangements that function like a hotel stay even without a hotel license, because the ordinance taxes the charge for a license to use property rather than a formal room rental. The code draws a firm line on duration: it presumes that occupying real property for a continuous period of one month or more is a rental or lease rather than a license to use, which removes long-term stays from the tax base entirely. The tax has been in effect since 12:01 a.m. on March 26, 1975, adopted originally by Ordinance 2-1975.

Collection is not handled locally. Section 3.05.020 designates the Washington State Department of Revenue as the county's agent for collecting the tax and remitting proceeds to the county, citing RCW 67.28.190 and RCW 67.28.200 as the statutory basis for that arrangement. Lodging operators in unincorporated Yakima County therefore file and remit through the state's combined excise tax return process rather than a separate county form. Proceeds do not go into the county's general fund: Section 3.05.030 creates a dedicated convention center fund, into which all special excise tax revenue is deposited along with any other funds the Board of County Commissioners directs there, administered under RCW 67.28.210. The chapter sits alongside the county's separate 2022 Tourism Promotion Area lodging charge, which adds a flat per-unit, per-night assessment on top of this percentage tax for larger lodging businesses.