Kent, WA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 1% of lodging charge
- Effective date
- February 1, 1999
- Exempt threshold
- Stays of 1 month or more
- Collecting agency
- WA State Department of Revenue
- Fund use
- Tourism promotion and facilities only
- Authorizing state law
- RCW 67.28.181
Summary
Kent levies a 1 percent special excise (lodging) tax on lodging furnished for under a month, including short-term rentals, under KCC 3.23.020. Stays of one month or more are presumed a lease and fall outside the tax. The Washington Department of Revenue collects it.
Effective February 1, 1999, there is hereby levied, as authorized by RCW 67.28.181, a special excise tax of one (1) percent on the sale of or charge made for the furnishing of lodging that is subject to tax under Chapter 82.08 RCW. Pursuant to RCW 82.08.010 and 82.04.050(1)(f), the tax imposed applies to the sale of or charge for the furnishing of lodging by a hotel, rooming house, tourist court, motel, or trailer camp, and the granting of any similar license to use real property, as distinguished from the renting or leasing of real property. It shall be presumed that the occupancy of real property for a continuous period of one (1) month or more constitutes a rental or lease of real property and not a mere license to use and enjoy the same.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4542, passed June 16, 2026).
Full Breakdown
23, the city's lodging tax chapter, has taxed short-stay lodging since February 1, 1999. 08 RCW retail sales tax. The chapter expressly covers not just hotels and motels but any 'granting of any similar license to use real property, as distinguished from the renting or leasing of real property,' which is how short-term rental stays are captured: the code draws the line at continuous occupancy of one month, presuming anything at or beyond that length is a lease exempt from the tax, and anything shorter is taxable lodging.
030 makes clear this lodging tax stacks on top of any other license fee or tax the city already imposes, so it is additional to Kent's general business and occupation tax exposure a short-term rental host may separately owe. 28 RCW. 050 designates the Washington State Department of Revenue as the city's collection agent, administering the tax 'in the manner provided by and consistent with State law,' meaning short-term rental operators typically report and remit this local excise tax alongside their state retail sales tax filings to DOR rather than filing separately with city hall.
Violations & Fines
The lodging tax chapter itself sets no separate local fine schedule; instead KCC 3.23.050 folds enforcement into the Washington State Department of Revenue's collection and administration process, which the code requires be handled 'consistent with State law.' Because DOR collects the 1 percent excise tax as an add-on to state retail sales tax reporting, a short-term rental host who under-collects or fails to remit the tax faces DOR's standard state tax delinquency and collection procedures, on top of remaining separately liable for any Kent business and occupation tax and license obligations under KCC 3.23.030.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do short-term rental hosts in Kent owe a lodging tax?
Who collects Kent's short-term rental lodging tax?
Is the lodging tax instead of Kent's business tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kent
How Kent compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·Compare Kent to another location·View the Washington short-term rentals overview
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Taxes & Fees in Nearby Cities
How other cities in King County handle taxes & fees.