Riverside County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Riverside County Code § 5.84.120
- STR treated as
- a "hotel" for TOT
- Who collects
- responsible operator, from guests
- Remit to
- county treasurer-tax collector
- Applies in
- unincorporated area only
Summary
Unincorporated Riverside County short-term rentals are treated as hotels for transient occupancy tax purposes, and operators must collect and remit TOT plus TBID/TMD assessments to the county.
The responsible operator(s) shall comply with or ensure the hosting platform(s) complies with all the requirements of Riverside County Ordinance No. 495, the uniform transient occupancy tax ordinance. For the purposes of Riverside County Ordinance No. 495 only, a Short Term Rental shall qualify as a "hotel." The Responsible Operator(s) shall be legally responsible for the collection of all applicable Transient Occupancy taxes and assessments, including TBIDs and TMDs, from the responsible guest(s), and remittance of such collected taxes and assessments to the treasurer tax-collector...
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 84 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Riverside County Code section 5.84.120 makes the countywide Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance (Ord. No. 495) apply to every short-term rental in the unincorporated area, defining an STR as a "hotel" for TOT purposes. The responsible operator must collect all transient occupancy taxes and any applicable TBID/TMD assessments from guests and remit them to the treasurer-tax collector, who enforces this section. This applies only outside the county's 28 incorporated cities (Riverside, Temecula, Palm Springs, Indio, etc.), which set their own TOT rates and STR rules.
Violations & Fines
Failure to collect or remit TOT/TBID/TMD is enforced by the treasurer-tax collector under Ordinance No. 495; unpaid tax is separate from the code-enforcement penalties in section 5.84.140 for other STR chapter violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Riverside County short-term rentals pay hotel tax?
Who enforces STR tax collection in unincorporated Riverside County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Riverside County
How Riverside County compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·California rules heatmap·Compare Riverside County to another location·View the California short-term rentals overview
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