Palm Desert, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Palm Desert Municipal Code § 3.28.030 imposes the tax in the City of Palm Desert: for the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient pays eleven percent of the rent charged by the operator or otherwise payable by the transient. The tax is a debt owed by the transient to the city, extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the city. Tax on occupancies in exchange for services is due from the operator, calculated at eleven percent of the current rental value of the accommodations furnished.

The reach of the tax comes from § 3.28.020. "Hotel" covers any structure or portion of one occupied by transients, from an inn or motel to a time-share project, recreational vehicle or other similar structure, and expressly includes a "short-term rental unit" as defined in Chapter 5.10. A "transient" is a person occupying for thirty consecutive calendar nights or less. Section 3.28.040(C) exempts persons renting single family dwellings, condominiums, apartments or similar units on a monthly term, and subsection A exempts federal or state officers on official business when the government books and pays directly, plus certain complimentary rooms.

The operator carries the administrative load. Under § 3.28.050 the tax must be separately stated from the rent, and no operator may advertise that the tax will be absorbed or not added to the rent. Section 3.28.060 requires a transient occupancy registration permit for each place of business, with a registration fee of five dollars for each permit issued, posted in a conspicuous place. Under § 3.28.070 the tax is due on the first day of the month following each calendar month and is delinquent on the first day of the second succeeding calendar month. The monthly return is due on or before the last day of the month following the close of each calendar month. Section 3.28.110 requires records to be kept for three years.