City of Palm Springs TOT: Rate, Filing, and Exemptions

If you rent lodging in Palm Springs for stays of 28 consecutive days or fewer, you must collect a Transient Occupancy Tax of 11.5 percent from every guest, plus a 1 percent Tourism Business Improvement District assessment, for a combined 12.5 percent of the rent charged.¹ Hotels, vacation rentals, and homeshares are all on the hook. The operator collects the money, files a return every month, and sends the tax to the city. Miss a step and penalties, interest, and permit revocation follow.

The Rate and What Counts as Rent

The 11.5 percent TOT rate is set by Palm Springs Municipal Code Section 3.24.030.¹ The 1 percent TBID assessment applies to all vacation rentals and homeshares regardless of size, and to hotels with 49 rooms or fewer.² TBID is paid on the same monthly schedule as TOT.

Rent is defined broadly. It covers the total amount charged for occupancy, whether paid in cash, credit, property, or services, and you cannot reduce taxable receipts by subtracting business expenses like credit card processing fees or travel agency commissions.³ Rent that goes uncollected still has to be reported on your return, though you won’t owe tax on money you never received.

The tax must be collected at the same time as rent and shown as a separate line item on the guest’s bill. Advertising that you’ll absorb the tax, waive it, or refund any portion is prohibited.³ If you fail to collect from a guest, you still owe the full amount to the city.

Register Before You Collect

You need a TOT Permit number before taking any bookings. Vacation rentals and homeshares also need a vacation rental registration certificate and a business license.¹ The application asks for your legal name, contact information, a local representative, the type of accommodation, and the number of units offered. Forms are available from the Finance Department in person or online.

The city treats vacation rentals and homeshares as different categories. A vacation rental is a single-family dwelling rented for 28 days or fewer while the owner is not on the property. A homeshare is the owner’s own home, hosted while the owner remains on-site throughout the stay.⁴ Annual registration fees as of December 2025 are $1,046 for a vacation rental, $523 for a junior vacation rental, and $261 for a homeshare.⁵

Monthly Filing Deadline

File a return every month, even when you collected no rent. Returns and payments are due by the last working day of the month following the reporting period. For January activity, that means the last working day of February.⁶ Payments can be made through the city’s online tax portal or by mailing a check to City Hall.

Penalties and Interest for Late Payment

Missing a deadline gets expensive quickly.⁶

First month late: 10 percent of the tax due, or $50, whichever is greater.
Still unpaid after the second month: an additional 15 percent, bringing the total penalty to 25 percent.

Interest also runs at 1 percent per month from the delinquency date until the tax is paid. If the city finds the failure to pay was fraudulent, it can add a further penalty of 100 percent of the tax and all other penalties combined.³ Repeated late filing can also lead to permit revocation.

Who Is Exempt

A guest whose stay runs longer than 28 consecutive days is treated as a permanent resident and owes no TOT for that stay.¹ The count must be unbroken. Two separate two-week stays a week apart do not add up to 28 days.³

Federal and state government employees traveling on official business are exempt, as are foreign government employees whose exemption is provided by federal law or an international treaty.¹ For any exemption, collect a completed Exemption Certificate from the guest when rent is collected. Without that certificate on file, you are personally liable for the tax the guest didn’t pay.

Records You Have to Keep

Keep records in the city for at least four years. That includes guest registration cards or folios showing name and address, dates of occupancy, a nightly breakdown of charges, and the number of guests, along with a cash receipts journal and bank statements traceable to lodging revenue.³ The city’s tax administrator can request additional documentation at any time.

1
City of Palm Springs. Vacation Rental Transient Occupancy Tax Information
2
City of Palm Springs. Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID)
3
City of Palm Springs. Palm Springs Code 3.24 – Transient Occupancy Tax
4
City of Palm Springs. Palm Springs Code 5.25 – Vacation Rentals
5
City of Palm Springs. Vacation Rentals
6
City of Palm Springs. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT)