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

020 of the county's Hotel Tax chapter imposes the tax "for the privilege of occupancy in any hotel," charging each transient 8% of the rent charged by the operator; the tax is a debt owed by the guest that is extinguished only by payment to the operator or the county, due at the time rent is paid or, if paid in installments, proportionately with each installment. 010(A) defines "hotel" expansively to include any structure or portion of a structure occupied by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes, naming hotels, inns, motels, tourist homes, lodging and rooming houses, apartment houses, and mobile homes or house trailers at a fixed location, language broad enough to reach short-term rental listings operating in the unincorporated county.

010(F) is anyone occupying space for thirty consecutive calendar days or less absent a written agreement for a longer stay. 030 exempts only occupants or occupancies the county lacks power to tax, or foreign-government officers/employees exempt under federal law or treaty, and any exemption must be claimed under penalty of perjury at the time rent is collected. Limited exemptions aside, the 8% rate applies uniformly whether the stay is booked through a front desk or an online short-term rental platform, since both fall inside the chapter's "hotel" definition.