Beaumont, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Section 3.28.030 fixes the rate at ten percent of the rent charged by the operator. The tax is a debt the transient owes to the City, and only payment to the operator or to the City extinguishes it. The transient pays when the rent is paid, with a proportionate share on each installment, and any unpaid balance is due when the transient stops occupying space. If the operator never collects it, the operator stays civilly liable to the City.

The base is wide. Under Section 3.28.020 a hotel is any structure or portion of a structure occupied or intended for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping, and the definition names inns, tourist homes or houses, motels, lodging houses, rooming houses, apartment houses, dormitories, clubs, mobile homes and house trailers. A transient is anyone occupying for 30 consecutive calendar days or less. Rent means the consideration charged, whether or not received, including goods, labor and services, with no deduction.

Exemptions under Section 3.28.040 are narrow: persons the City has no power to tax, federal or state political subdivision officers and employees on official business, and foreign government officers exempt by federal law or treaty. The claim is made when the rent is collected, under penalty of perjury, on the tax administrator's form.

Operators state the tax separately from the rent, give each guest a receipt, and never advertise that the tax is absorbed or refunded (Section 3.28.050). They register within 30 days after commencing business and post the transient occupancy registration certificate, which states that it is not a permit (Section 3.28.060). Returns are due by the last day of the month after each calendar quarter (Section 3.28.070), and records are kept three years (Section 3.28.110). Section 3.28.140 sends the proceeds to a community promotion fund earmarked for community and tourist promotion.