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

Tracy Municipal Code § 8.08.190 defines a 'transient' as any hotel occupant for 30 consecutive days or less, counting partial days as full days, unless a written agreement sets a longer stay. Section 8.08.230 sets the tax at 10 percent of the rent charged, due from the transient to the operator at the time rent is paid, or in proportionate installments if rent is paid that way; if the operator never collects it, the Tax Administrator, defined as the City's Finance Director under § 8.08.220, can demand payment directly from the transient.

Every operator must register the hotel and post a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate in a conspicuous place under § 8.08.250, and must separately state the tax from the room rent on every receipt and never advertise that the tax will be absorbed into the room rate (§ 8.08.240). Returns and full remittance are due by the last day of the month following each calendar quarter, or on a shorter cycle the Tax Administrator sets, and all collected tax is held in trust for the City until remitted (§ 8.08.260).

An operator selling or closing a hotel must notify the Tax Administrator at least 30 days before the transfer and file a final return with any balance due by the same day of the next month (§ 8.08.265). Records supporting the tax must be kept for four years and are subject to City inspection (§ 8.08.300). Overpayments can be refunded or credited on a written claim under penalty of perjury (§ 8.08.310).