Pacifica, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 15% of rent charged
- Transient threshold
- Stays under 30 consecutive days
- Registration
- Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate required
- Late penalty
- 10% plus 10% plus up to 25% for fraud
- Interest
- 1% per month on unpaid tax
- Violation penalty
- Misdemeanor, up to $500 fine or 6 months
Summary
Guests staying fewer than 30 consecutive days in a Pacifica "hotel," a term covering everything from motels to mobile homes at a fixed location, pay a 15 percent transient occupancy tax on their rent under Municipal Code § 3-7.03. Operators collect, register, and remit the tax quarterly to the Tax Administrator, with steep penalties for late or fraudulent remittance.
"Hotel" shall mean any structure, or any portion of any structure, which is occupied, or intended or designed for occupancy, by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes and shall include any hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, bachelor hotel, lodging house, rooming house, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, mobile home or house trailer at a fixed location, or other similar structure, or portion thereof, or any space, lot, area, or site in any trailer court, camp, or public or private park where a trailer, recreational vehicle, motor home, mobile home, or other similar conveyance is occupied or intended occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes. ... For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient shall be subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of fifteen (15%) percent of the rent charged by the operator. Such tax shall constitute a debt owed by the transient to the City, which debt shall be extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the City.
Full Breakdown
02(b) to include not just hotels and motels but lodging houses, rooming houses, apartment houses, dormitories, and mobile homes or trailers at a fixed location or in a trailer court or park, must collect a transient occupancy tax from any guest, or "transient," staying fewer than 30 consecutive days. 03 sets that tax at 15 percent of the rent charged, paid by the transient to the operator at the time rent is paid, or in proportion with each installment if rent is paid in installments; unpaid tax becomes a debt owed to the City.
07. 04, mainly occupancies beyond the City's taxing power or foreign government officials under treaty. 08 penalizes late remittance heavily: a 10 percent penalty for an original delinquency, another 10 percent if still unpaid 30 days later, up to 25 percent more for fraud, and 1 percent monthly interest on top. 10. 14 makes any violation, including failure to register or a false return, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine, up to six months in jail, or both. , effective December 19, 2024.
Violations & Fines
Any violation of Pacifica's transient occupancy tax chapter, including an operator's failure to register, collect, report or remit the 15 percent tax, is a misdemeanor under § 3-7.14 punishable by up to a $500 fine, up to six months in jail, or both. Late remittance separately draws a 10 percent penalty, a second 10 percent penalty after 30 more days, up to 25 percent more for fraud under § 3-7.08, and 1 percent monthly interest until paid.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pacifica's hotel occupancy tax rate?
What counts as a "hotel" under Pacifica's occupancy tax law?
What happens if a Pacifica hotel operator doesn't remit the occupancy tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pacifica
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Transient Occupancy Tax in Nearby Cities
How other cities in San Mateo County handle transient occupancy tax.