Redwood City, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 12% of the rent charged (Sec. 32.75)
- Shared compliance
- Compliance or noncompliance by operator or platform counts for both
- Platform registration
- In its own name, certificate posted on its website, if applicable
- Host relief
- No separate registration if the platform used has registered
- Registration fee
- None; the certificate is not a permit (Sec. 32.78)
- Return deadline
- Last day of the month after each calendar quarter (Sec. 32.79)
- Late penalty
- 10%, plus a second 10% after 30 days (Sec. 32.85)
Summary
Under Redwood City Code § 32.80, a hosting platform and its hosts share one compliance record: compliance by either counts as compliance by both, and noncompliance by either counts as noncompliance by both. A platform that collects the 12% transient occupancy tax must register in its own name, post its certificate on its website, and carry the same duties as any operator.
Compliance with the provisions of this Article by either the operator or the hosting platform shall be considered to be compliance by both, and noncompliance by either shall be considered noncompliance by both. Specifically, all hosting platforms collecting the transient occupancy tax shall have the same obligations as any operator under Section 32.78 when collecting on behalf of any operator. To comply with Section 32.78 , a hosting platform shall register in its own name and post its Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate on its website, if applicable. Operators that only use a hosting platform for providing lodging to transients shall not be required to register separately with the tax administrator or post a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate on-site so long as such hosting platform used by the operator has registered pursuant to Section 32.78 .
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Zoning Code: Supplement 29 | City Code: Supplement 61 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Section 32.80 of the Redwood City Code ties a hosting platform and its hosts into a single compliance unit. Compliance with the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance by either the operator or the hosting platform counts as compliance by both, and noncompliance by either counts as noncompliance by both. A host cannot blame a platform's missed filing, and a platform cannot blame a host's missing paperwork.
Section 32.71 defines a hosting platform as a means through which an operator can offer a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, for transient occupancy. That includes an internet based platform with a publicly searchable website, and it applies whether the guest pays rent to the operator or to the platform. A hotel under the ordinance includes a short-term rental as provided for in Section 31.3 of the Redwood City Zoning Ordinance, and an operator includes a host under that same zoning section. A transient is anyone occupying space for thirty consecutive calendar days or less.
Every hosting platform that collects the transient occupancy tax carries the same obligations as any operator under Section 32.78 when it collects on behalf of an operator. Section 32.78 requires registration with the Tax Administrator, who is the Collector of the City, within thirty days after commencing business, and requires the Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate to be posted conspicuously. The certificate costs nothing and is not a permit. Section 32.80 adapts that rule for the internet: the platform registers in its own name and posts its certificate on its website, if applicable.
Hosts get a clear benefit. An operator that only uses a hosting platform for providing lodging to transients does not have to register separately with the Tax Administrator or post a certificate on-site, so long as the platform the operator uses has registered under Section 32.78. The relief depends on the platform's registration, so a host listing on an unregistered platform has no such protection.
The tax itself is twelve percent of the rent charged under Section 32.75, and rent under Section 32.71 counts money, goods, labor and services with no deduction. The section was added by Ordinance No. 2442 on 2-26-18 and amended by Ordinance No. 2562, dated 7-27-26.
Violations & Fines
Noncompliance by either the platform or the operator is noncompliance by both, so a platform that fails to remit exposes its hosts, and the reverse. An operator who misses a remittance owes a ten percent penalty, a second ten percent penalty if the amount is still unpaid thirty days after it first became delinquent, a twenty-five percent penalty when the Tax Administrator finds fraud, and interest of one percent per month (Sec. 32.85). Failing to register, failing to file a return, or filing a false return is a misdemeanor punishable under Section 1.7 of the Code (Sec. 32.90).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need my own registration certificate if I list only on a platform?
What must a hosting platform do to comply in Redwood City?
Who is responsible if the platform does not remit the tax?
How do I contest an assessment from the Tax Administrator?
What records and returns does an operator have to keep?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Redwood City
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