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

Chapter 4.32 of the National City Municipal Code is the city's transient occupancy tax ordinance. Section 4.32.030 charges each transient 10 percent of the rent charged by the operator for each day of the first 30 days of occupancy. The tax is a debt owed by the transient to the city, extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the city, and it is due when rent is paid, with a proportionate share on each installment. If the operator does not receive it, the tax administrator can require direct payment. Once occupancy passes 30 continuous days, the tax collected is refunded, and that refund does not change the guest's transient status under Civil Code Section 1940(b).

The definition of hotel in § 4.32.020 is broad. It covers any structure or portion of a structure occupied or designed for temporary occupancy for dwelling, lodging or sleeping, and lists inns, tourist homes, motels, lodging houses, rooming houses, apartment houses, dormitories, private clubs, and mobile homes, house trailers or recreational vehicles at a fixed location. Rent means the consideration charged, whether or not received, with no deduction. The tax administrator is the city treasurer or finance director. Section 6.30.070(G) confirms that short-term rentals are subject to this chapter.

Operators must collect the tax with the rent, state it separately from the rent, and give each guest a receipt. An operator cannot advertise that the tax will be absorbed or not added (§ 4.32.050). Within 30 days of starting business, the operator registers the hotel and obtains a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate that stays posted in a conspicuous place (§ 4.32.060). Returns and remittances are due on or before the last day of the month following each calendar month, and collected tax is held in trust for the city (§ 4.32.070). Records must be kept for three calendar years, excluding the current year (§ 4.32.110).

No tax is imposed when rent is paid directly by the federal government or the State of California, or when a treaty or law exempts the guest. The exemption must be claimed when rent is collected, on a form under penalty of perjury, with supporting documents such as official travel orders (§ 4.32.040). A contractor's employee is not exempt even if later reimbursed.