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

Tustin City Code Chapter 7, the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Law Chapter, imposes a 13 percent tax on rent charged for occupancy in any 'hotel,' a term defined in Section 2702 to include hotels, inns, motels, studio and bachelor hotels, lodging and rooming houses, apartment houses, hostels, bed and breakfasts, time-share project rental units, dormitories, and mobile homes or house trailers at a fixed location. A 'transient' is anyone occupying a room for thirty consecutive calendar days or less; any break in occupancy restarts the thirty-day clock.

Under Section 2703 the operator collects the tax when rent is paid and remains liable for it even if never collected from the guest. Section 2706 requires every operator to register with the City Treasurer within thirty days of opening (originally by June 1, 1978) and post a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate on the premises; Section 2707 requires a return and full remittance by the last day of the month following each calendar quarter. Section 2704 exempts federal and state officers and employees on official business, foreign government officers exempt by treaty, and occupancies the City lacks power to tax.

Operators must keep records for three years under Section 2711, and any operator disputing a City Treasurer assessment has fifteen days to appeal to the City Council under Section 2710.