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Fremont, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Some Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified August 2026

Key Facts

TOT rate
10% of rent, effective Jan 1, 2009
STR permit fee
Set by city council resolution
TOT collector
Director of finance (Sec. 3.10.310)
Late TOT penalty
10%/month, capped at 50% of tax
Amnesty deadline
Dec. 31, 2024 for pre-2024 hosts
Permit issuer
Community development department

Summary

Fremont short-term rental hosts pay the citywide 10 percent transient occupancy tax on rent under Municipal Code Section 3.10.280, must register with the director of finance, and owe a short-term rental permit application fee set by city council resolution under Section 5.100.030(b)(14) before renting to any transient.

(a) For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of eight percent of the rent charged by the operator. Commencing January 1, 2009, and continuing thereafter, the amount of tax shall be 10 percent of the rent charged by the operator. Said tax constitutes a debt owed by the transient to the city which is extinguished only by payment to the operator of the hotel at the time the rent is paid.

View official code

Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 02-2026, passed May 5, 2026).

Full Breakdown

Fremont taxes short-term rental income the same way it taxes any hotel stay. 10, sets the tax at 10 percent of the rent charged, a rate that took effect January 1, 2009, up from the original 8 percent. 300. 310. 330. 100 requires every short-term rental to hold a city permit. 030(b)(14) requires the initial application and every renewal application to be "accompanied by an application fee to be established by resolution by the city council," so the dollar amount lives in a council resolution rather than the code text itself. 030(a). 110 to apply for the permit by December 31, 2024, or stop operating until one is issued.

Violations & Fines

Operating without the Chapter 5.100 permit is declared a public nuisance the city attorney can sue to abate under Section 5.100.100(a). Health-or-safety infractions carry escalating fines of $1,500, then $3,000, then $5,000 for repeat violations within a year, but Section 5.100.100(b)(4) exempts a first-time failure to register or pay the business license fee from those fines. Late transient occupancy tax remittance instead draws the separate 10 percent monthly penalty under Section 3.10.330, capped at 50 percent of tax due.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Fremont short-term rental hosts pay the same tax as hotels?
Yes. Fremont's Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax applies to any "hotel," a term the code defines broadly enough to cover a dwelling rented for lodging under 30 days. Section 3.10.280(a) sets the rate at 10 percent of the rent charged, collected from the guest and remitted by the host, acting as operator, to the director of finance.
How much is Fremont's short-term rental permit application fee?
The municipal code does not print a dollar figure. Section 5.100.030(b)(14) requires both the initial application and every renewal application for a short-term rental permit to include an application fee, but the amount is set separately by city council resolution, so hosts should confirm the current fee with the community development department before applying.
What happens if a host misses a transient occupancy tax payment?
Section 3.10.330 imposes a penalty of 10 percent of the unpaid tax for each month it remains late, capped at 50 percent of the tax due, plus interest of 1 percent per month until the operator pays the balance in full to the director of finance.
Could an existing Fremont host lose the right to operate for missing the 2024 deadline?
Yes. Section 5.100.110 gave hosts who already held a business tax ID and were renting short-term before the ordinance until December 31, 2024 to obtain a short-term rental permit. Anyone who missed that window must stop operating and cannot resume until a permit is issued.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Fremont

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All Fremont rules

How Fremont compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·California rules heatmap·Compare Fremont to another location·View the California short-term rentals overview

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