Frederick County, VA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Chapter 155, Article XIV of the Frederick County Code taxes every 'accommodation' offered outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, a term § 155-50 defines to include hotels, motels, boarding houses, travel campgrounds, inns, tourist cabins, clubs and short-term rentals renting to a 'transient' for fewer than 30 consecutive days. § 155-51 sets the rate at 6% of the total room rental charge, layered on top of every other tax already owed. § 155-52 exempts room rental paid to a hospital, medical clinic, convalescent home or home for the aged. § 155-53 requires the accommodations provider to collect the tax from the transient at the time payment is made, whether by cash or credit; § 155-54 treats every dollar collected as held in trust for the county until it is remitted. § 155-55 requires a monthly report on forms the Commissioner of the Revenue prescribes, due by the 20th of the following month with the tax payment attached, unless the provider's sales all run through an accommodations intermediary that has filed an annual attestation. § 155-57 adds a 10% penalty on any unpaid tax plus 10% annual interest, tied to the IRS underpayment rate after the first year, and § 155-58 lets the Commissioner estimate and assess the tax if a provider fails to collect or report. § 155-59 requires providers to keep four years of room-rental records open to the Commissioner's examination, and § 155-60 makes the tax immediately due if a provider goes out of business.