Puyallup, WA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Puyallup Municipal Code Chapter 3.10, the Hotel and Motel Tax chapter adopted by Ordinance 2516 in 1997, imposes a special excise tax of 7 percent on the sale of or charge for furnishing lodging that is subject to state sales tax under RCW Chapter 82.08. The tax reaches hotels, rooming houses, tourist courts, motels and trailer camps, and also covers the granting of any similar license to use real property, as distinguished from a rental or lease of real property. Stays of one continuous month or longer are presumed to be a rental or lease rather than a taxable license to occupy, which is why long-term extended-stay guests fall outside the tax.

Of the 7 percent, the first two percentage points are a credit: that portion is deducted from what the operator would otherwise owe the state under Chapter 82.08 RCW, so the city's tax does not simply stack on top of the state rate dollar for dollar. Definitions of "selling price," "seller," "buyer" and "consumer" are borrowed directly from RCW 82.08.010. The Washington Department of Revenue administers and collects the tax as the city's agent, applying the same administrative rules that govern the state retail sales tax under RCW 82.08.050 through 82.08.070 and Chapter 82.32 RCW.

Proceeds go into a dedicated special fund in the city treasury, restricted to tourism promotion and the acquisition or operation of tourism-related facilities, consistent with the uses authorized under Chapter 67.28 RCW. This lodging tax applies only within Puyallup city limits; it does not reach lodging on Puyallup Tribe of Indians trust land, which sits outside municipal taxing authority, or lodging in unincorporated Pierce County areas such as South Hill or Frederickson.