Monterey Park, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 13% of rent charged (§ 3.26.020)
- Transient defined as
- Occupancy of 30 consecutive days or less
- First delinquency penalty
- 10% of tax due
- Fraud penalty
- Additional 25% of tax
- Interest on unpaid tax
- 0.5% per month
- Registration deadline
- Within 30 days of starting business
Summary
Every transient staying in a Monterey Park hotel for thirty days or less owes a 13 percent occupancy tax on the rent charged, collected by the operator and remitted to the city's license officer, with the hotel definition broad enough to sweep in motels, lodginghouses and similar short-term lodging.
§ 3.26.020. Tax imposed. For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient must pay a tax in the amount of thirteen percent of the rent charged by the operator. Such tax is a debt owed by the transient to the city, which debt may be extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the city. The transient must 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 must be paid with each installment.
Full Breakdown
Monterey Park Municipal Code Chapter 3.26 imposes the city's transient occupancy tax. Section 3.26.020 sets the rate: for the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient must pay a tax of thirteen percent of the rent charged by the operator, a debt owed to the city that can only be extinguished by payment to the operator or the city itself. If rent is paid in installments, a proportionate share of the tax is due with each installment, and the full unpaid balance comes due once the transient stops occupying the space; if it is never collected from the transient, the license officer can require it be paid directly.
Section 3.26.010 defines who and what this reaches. A hotel includes any structure occupied or intended for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, expressly naming hotels, inns, tourist homes, motels, studio hotels, bachelor hotels, lodginghouses, roominghouses, apartment houses, dormitories, clubs, and mobile homes or house trailers at a fixed location. A transient is anyone occupying space for thirty consecutive calendar days or less, counting partial days as full days, unless a written agreement sets a longer stay. Section 3.26.030 requires operators to collect the tax at the same time as rent and state it separately from the rent charged, and bars any operator from advertising that the tax will be absorbed or not added.
Section 3.26.040 requires every operator to register with the license officer and post a transient occupancy registration certificate on the premises, within thirty days of starting business. Section 3.26.050 requires quarterly returns and remittance to the license officer, with all collected tax held in trust for the city until paid over.
Violations & Fines
Section 3.26.060 penalizes late remittance at ten percent of the tax due for a first delinquency, an additional ten percent if unpaid thirty days after the remittance first became delinquent, and twenty-five percent on top of both if the license officer finds the nonpayment was fraudulent, plus interest at one-half of one percent per month on the unpaid tax from the delinquency date until paid. Section 3.26.120 makes it a misdemeanor, punishable under Chapter 4.10, for any operator who fails or refuses to register, fails to file a required return, or files a false or fraudulent return or claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Monterey Park's hotel occupancy tax rate?
Does Monterey Park's occupancy tax apply to short-term rentals, not just hotels?
What happens if a Monterey Park hotel operator remits the tax late?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Monterey Park
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