San Bernardino, CA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

55 imposes the tax on every transient, defined as someone occupying a hotel room for 30 consecutive days or less, unless a written contract guarantees a longer stay with at least 30 days' notice to terminate. The rate is 10% of the room rental charged by the operator, and the money goes into the city's General Fund. Operators must collect the tax when they receive the room payment and issue the transient a receipt; if the bill includes charges beyond lodging, the room rental portion must be billed separately.

Collected tax is held in trust for the city, and operators cannot advertise that the tax will be absorbed, waived, or refunded outside the ordinance. Every operator must also register the hotel with the Department of Finance and Management Services within 30 days of the ordinance's effective date or 30 days after starting business, and receives a transient lodging registration certificate in return. Operators keep numbered transient registration cards and daily summary sheets recording who occupied each room, the dates, and the rental charged, all of which the city can audit.

Reports and remittances are due by the 25th of each month for the prior month's activity, signed under penalty of perjury. Limited exemptions exist for federal and state government employees on official business, certain foreign government officers, and payments to hospitals, medical clinics, convalescent homes, or homes for the aged; a transient claiming an exemption must file a signed exemption certificate with the hotel at the time of payment. Refund claims must be filed with the Department of Finance and Management Services within three years of remittance, supported by written records.