Novato, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- STR in tax base
- Rental of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days consecutive tenancy
- Tax rate
- Twelve percent of rent (§ 16-2.3)
- Registration
- Within 30 days after commencing business
- Return due
- Last day of the month after each calendar quarter
- Managing agents
- Share the operator's duties and liabilities
- Records kept
- Three years
Summary
In the City of Novato, California, the hotel room tax ordinance names short-term rental of all or part of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days consecutive tenancy as a taxable hotel. Hosts who qualify as operators collect the twelve percent tax, register with the tax collector, and file quarterly under Novato Municipal Code § 16-2.
As used in this section: ... b."Hotel" shall mean any structure or any portion of any structure, which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, and includes any hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, bachelor hotel, short-term rental of all or a portion of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days consecutive tenancy, lodging house, apartment house, dormitory, public or private club, mobile home or house trailer, or house trailer tie down pad, at a fixed location, or houseboats or berthing facilities or other similar structure or portion thereof. ... d."Transient" shall mean any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or other agreement for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of calendar days as full days.
Full Breakdown
Novato Municipal Code § 16-2.2(b) defines a taxable "hotel" to include a short-term rental of all or a portion of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days consecutive tenancy, listed alongside inns, motels, lodging houses and mobile home pads. A guest in such a rental is a transient under § 16-2.2(d): anyone with a right of occupancy for 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of days as full days. That pulls a short-term rental stay into the Uniform Hotel Room Tax, which § 16-2.3 sets at twelve percent of the rent charged by the operator.
The host side is covered by the definition of operator. Section 16-2.2(f) reaches the proprietor of the hotel in any capacity, including owner, lessee, sub-lessee, mortgagee in possession or licensee. Where an operator works through a managing agent who is not an employee, the managing agent is also an operator with the same duties and liabilities, and compliance by either the principal or the agent counts as compliance by both. Rent under § 16-2.2(e) is the full consideration charged, valued in money, whether received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, with no deduction.
The duties follow the same path as any hotel in the City of Novato. Under § 16-2.5 the operator states the tax separately from the rent, gives each transient a receipt, and cannot advertise that the tax will be absorbed or left off the rent. Under § 16-2.6 the operator registers with the tax collector within 30 days after commencing business and posts the Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate in a conspicuous place on the premises. Returns are due under § 16-2.7 on or before the last day of the month following the close of each calendar quarter. Records are kept for three years under § 16-2.11.
This section is a tax ordinance, not a zoning approval. The registration certificate text printed in § 16-2.6 states that the certificate does not authorize any person to conduct any lawful business in an unlawful manner and does not constitute a permit, so a certificate does not replace whatever local approvals a rental needs.
Violations & Fines
Section 16-2.8 adds a ten percent penalty for late remittance, a second ten percent penalty at 30 days, a 25 percent penalty for fraud, and interest of one-half of one percent per month. Under § 16-2.14, failing to register, failing to file a return, or filing a false return is a misdemeanor punishable under § 1-5, with a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both. The tax collector can assess the tax from the best facts available when no report is filed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Novato tax short-term rental stays?
Who is responsible if a property manager runs the rental?
How is rent measured for the tax?
Does the tax registration certificate authorize a rental?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Novato
How Novato compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·California rules heatmap·Compare Novato to another location·View the California short-term rentals overview
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