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

Downey's Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax, codified at Municipal Code Chapter 1A (Article VI) and originally adopted by Ordinance 255 in 1964, taxes any Transient's occupancy of a Hotel at 9% of the Room Rental charged, per Section 6127. 4 defines a Transient as anyone occupying a room for 90 consecutive days or less at their own expense or another's. The tax is a debt owed by the guest to the city, collected by the operator at the time rent is paid (or proportionally with each installment payment), and Section 6129 bars an operator from advertising that the tax will be absorbed rather than charged separately.

Section 6128 exempts only occupants the city has no legal power to tax, federal officers or employees on official business, and treaty-exempt foreign government employees, and any exemption must be claimed on a form at the time rent is collected. Section 6130 requires every operator to register with the Tax Administrator within 30 days of the chapter's effective date or of starting business, obtain a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate, and post it conspicuously on the premises; the certificate does not authorize unlawful operation or substitute for any other required city permit.

Section 6131 requires operators to file a quarterly return with the Tax Administrator by the last day of the month following each calendar quarter (or a shorter period the Tax Administrator sets), remit the full tax collected with that return, and hold collected taxes in trust for the city until remitted.