Pinellas County, FL Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

The tax applies to any person who rents, leases, or lets living quarters for consideration for a term of six months or less in a hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort hotel, apartment, apartment motel, roominghouse, tourist or trailer camp, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, timeshare accommodation, or condominium anywhere in Pinellas County, including inside St. Petersburg, Clearwater and every other municipality, since the levy runs "throughout the county" under § 118-31(a). The six percent rate was built up in stages, from the first two percent approved by referendum in 1978 to the sixth percent added January 1, 2016 under Ordinance No.

15-31. ch. 00 may request quarterly filing instead of monthly. Operators must keep three years of rental and gross-receipts records open to the tax collector for inspection at their county place of business, and the tax collector must give at least 60 days' written notice before starting a routine audit, waived for an emergency audit the taxpayer requests. Up to three percent of collections may be retained for administrative costs; the remainder funds the tourist development plan. Refund claims are limited to three years from the date the tax was paid and must be processed within 90 days of a properly documented application, with interest owed on late-processed claims at the Department of Revenue's floating statutory rate.

Unpaid or delinquent tax becomes a lien collectible through a tax warrant recorded in the county's public records, enforceable by execution, garnishment or a circuit court injunction.