Grant County, WA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

GCC 3.68.030, adopted under Chapter 67.28 RCW, levies a special excise tax of four percent on the sale of or charge for lodging that is already taxable under Chapter 82.08 RCW. The tax reaches a hotel, rooming house, tourist court, motel or trailer camp, and, in the code's own words, 'the granting of any similar license to use real property, as distinguished from the renting or leasing of real property,' language the county's Unified Development Code applies to short-term rentals by classifying a Transient Residence as a Hospitality Commercial Establishment subject to taxes per RCW 64.37.020 under UDC 23.08.220(c)(3).

A stay of one month or more is presumed to be a lease rather than a taxable license, so long-term renters fall outside the four percent. GCC 3.68.040 layers the tax on top of, not instead of, any other license fee, though the first two percent is credited against what the operator would otherwise remit to the Department of Revenue under Chapter 82.08 RCW, and GCC 3.68.030 gives a further credit for any city lodging tax already paid. The Washington Department of Revenue collects and administers the whole tax for the county at no cost to the county under GCC 3.68.060, using the same forms and procedures it uses for the state sales tax.

Every dollar collected goes into the county's dedicated tourism activities fund under GCC 3.68.050, spent only on tourism promotion or tourism-related facilities. The tax took effect February 1, 1999, under GCC 3.68.100, and a short-term rental operator also owes the Fire Marshal's annual operational-permit fee set on the county fee schedule under GCC 15.03.010(b), separate from and in addition to the lodging excise tax.