San Francisco, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Filer
- Short-Term Rental Host
- Deadline
- On or before January 31
- Platform duty
- Qualified Website Company remits monthly
- Certificate of authority
- Not required for hosts
Summary
San Francisco Short-Term Rental Hosts must file Transient Occupancy Tax and Tourism Improvement District Assessment returns annually, or have a Qualified Website Company like Airbnb remit the tax monthly on their behalf.
For tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2024, a Short-Term Rental Host ... shall timely file a Transient Occupancy Tax return and Tourism Improvement District Assessment return with the Tax Collector and remit Transient Occupancy Taxes and Tourism Improvement District Assessments annually in lieu of the monthly returns and remittances required under Section 6.9-1(d)(1) ... All returns shall be filed and payments remitted on or before January 31 of each year. A Short-Term Rental Host shall not be required to obtain a certificate of authority from the Tax Collector under Section 6.6-1.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-96: Codes: last updated to include changes made by legislation through Ordinance 133-26, File No. 260686, approved July 23, 2026, effective August 23, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Under Business and Tax Regulations Code Sec. 6.9-1(d)(5), a Short-Term Rental Host must timely file a Transient Occupancy Tax return and Tourism Improvement District Assessment return with the Tax Collector and remit taxes annually, on or before January 31, in lieu of monthly filings. A host is not required to obtain a certificate of authority. If the host rents only through a Qualified Website Company, that company must instead collect and remit the tax monthly, and the host is relieved of the annual filing duty.
Violations & Fines
Failure to file or remit exposes the host to the penalties and interest set out for third-party taxes generally, collected by the Tax Collector; a host doing business outside a Qualified Website Company's platform must still file annually for that unreported portion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an Airbnb host in San Francisco file taxes directly?
When is the annual STR tax return due?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in San Francisco
How San Francisco compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·California rules heatmap·Compare San Francisco to another location·View the California short-term rentals overview
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