Folsom, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 8% of rent charged
- Applies to
- Stays of 30 days or less
- Registration deadline
- Within 30 days of opening
- Reporting
- Quarterly, due within 60 days
- Enforcing agency
- Finance director as tax administrator
- Late penalty
- 10% plus 10% after 30 days
- Records retention
- 3 years, must be preserved
Summary
Folsom charges an 8 percent transient occupancy tax on every hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or short-term rental stay of 30 consecutive days or less. The operator collects the tax with the rent, registers with the city's tax administrator within 30 days of opening, and remits collections quarterly. Late payment draws escalating penalties.
For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of 8 percent of the rent charged by the operator. Such tax constitutes a debt owed by the transient to the city which is extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the city. The transient shall pay the tax to the operator of the hotel at the time the rent is paid. If the rent is paid in installments, a proportionate share of the tax shall be paid with each installment. The unpaid tax shall be due upon the transient's ceasing to occupy space in the hotel. If for any reason the tax due is not paid to the operator of the hotel, the tax administrator may require that such tax shall be paid directly to the tax administrator.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 1369, passed April 28, 2026).
Full Breakdown
020 defines broadly to include not just hotels and motels but tourist homes, apartment houses, dormitories, bed and breakfast inns, marinas and boatels, and "other similar structure or portion thereof" rented to transients, meaning anyone occupying space for 30 consecutive days or less. That sweep is why short-term and vacation rentals in Folsom pay the same 8 percent tax as a hotel room. 030, the operator collects the tax from the transient when rent is paid and holds it in trust for the city until remitted.
060 requires every operator to register with the tax administrator, the city's finance director, within 30 days of opening for business and to post a transient occupancy registration certificate on the premises; the certificate is not a business permit. 070 sets quarterly reporting: operators must file a return and remit the full tax collected within 60 days after the close of each calendar quarter, or sooner if the tax administrator sets a shorter period. 110. 040 for federal or state officers on official business, treaty-exempt foreign government employees, and campers at a state park unit, but only if claimed in writing when rent is collected. 120.
Violations & Fines
An operator who misses a filing owes a 10 percent penalty on the unpaid tax under Section 3.14.085, plus a second 10 percent penalty if the delinquency runs more than 30 days, a 25 percent penalty if the tax administrator finds the nonpayment fraudulent, and interest at 1.5 percent per month on the unpaid tax until paid. Section 3.14.140 separately makes a violation of the chapter an infraction: up to a $100 fine for a first offense, $200 for a second offense within a year, and $500 for each further violation within that year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Folsom short-term and vacation rentals pay the transient occupancy tax?
How much is Folsom's hotel tax?
What happens if an operator does not pay Folsom's occupancy tax on time?
Can an operator get a refund of overpaid occupancy tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Folsom
California rules heatmap·Compare Folsom to another location·View the California hotels & lodging overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Transient Occupancy Tax in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Sacramento County handle transient occupancy tax.