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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Los Angeles 2026: TOT Rate And Rules
Los Angeles charges a 14% Transient Occupancy Tax plus a 2% Tourism Marketing District assessment, and a 2026 ballot measure could push the combined rate even higher.
August 28, 2026
8
min. read
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TL;DR
- LA's hotel tax stacks a 14% city Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) with a 2% Los Angeles Tourism Marketing District (LATMD) assessment at hotels with 50+ rooms, for a combined 16%.
- Hotel tax, lodging tax, occupancy tax, and bed tax all refer to the same TOT charged on LA stays.
- California has no statewide hotel tax, and LA County's TOT applies only to unincorporated areas, not inside city limits.
- Stays of more than 30 consecutive days are exempt from TOT, but only with an approved exemption application on file, not automatically.
- TOT is filed and remitted monthly to the LA Office of Finance, generally due by the 25th of the following month.
- A March 2026 ballot measure, Measure TT, would raise the city TOT from 14% to 16% through 2028, then to 15%; Measure TC would require OTAs to collect and remit TOT directly.
- Short-term rental hosts under LA's Home-Sharing Ordinance must register with the city, pay an $89 annual fee, and cap non-hosted stays at 120 nights a year.
- Some LA hotels add a separate $10 to $14 per night Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance surcharge now facing litigation over junk-fee disclosure.
How Los Angeles's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Los Angeles collects a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) under its own municipal code, since California has no statewide hotel tax and LA County's TOT reaches only unincorporated areas. Inside city limits, every dollar traces back to the city's 14% TOT ordinance, plus a tourism assessment at larger hotels.
The city's TOT rate has stood at 14% since 1993, authorized under the Los Angeles Municipal Code, and applies to any hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or short-term rental unit rented to a guest for 30 consecutive days or fewer. On top of the base tax, hotels with 50 or more rooms also collect a 2% assessment for the Los Angeles Tourism Marketing District (LATMD), a business improvement district that funds destination marketing rather than general city services.
Angelenos may see this stack shift soon. A March 2026 ballot measure, Measure TT, asks voters to raise the city TOT from 14% to 16% through the end of 2028 before settling at 15% permanently, while a companion measure, Measure TC, would require online travel companies like Expedia and Booking.com to collect and remit TOT directly instead of leaving that responsibility solely to the hotel.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
Because Los Angeles has no state or in-city county tax layer, the components below are limited to the city TOT, the tourism district assessment, and a hotel-elected worker protection surcharge that some properties add separately.
| Tax component | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| California state tax | None | California levies no statewide transient occupancy tax; all hotel tax authority sits with cities and counties |
| Los Angeles County TOT | Not applicable inside city limits | County TOT under LA County code only reaches unincorporated areas, not the City of Los Angeles |
| City of Los Angeles TOT | 14% | Set by municipal ordinance since 1993; charged on room revenue for stays of 30 consecutive days or fewer |
| LA Tourism Marketing District (LATMD) assessment | 2% of room revenue | Applies to hotels with 50 or more rooms; raised from 1.5% effective May 1, 2022; billed as a separate line item from TOT |
| Combined city rate at qualifying hotels | 16% | TOT plus LATMD at hotels with 50 or more rooms; smaller hotels pay only the 14% TOT |
| Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance surcharge | Roughly $10 to $14 per room, per night | Not a government tax; a hotel-elected fee tied to a 2022 city ordinance, currently facing junk-fee litigation |
The LATMD assessment is not a tax and does not fund city government. It is a self-imposed hospitality-industry fee that pays for destination marketing campaigns promoting Los Angeles as a travel destination, and it only applies at hotels with 50 rooms or more, so smaller independent properties never collect it.
The Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance surcharge works differently still. The underlying 2022 ordinance requires hotels to provide panic buttons and other safety measures for staff, but it does not set or require a specific fee. Individual hotel chains chose to pass an estimated compliance cost to guests as a nightly line item, and several are now defending that practice in court against claims that it functions as an undisclosed junk fee.
Collection and Remittance
Guests pay the combined TOT and any LATMD assessment at checkout, but the hotel or short-term rental operator is legally responsible for collecting, reporting, and remitting the tax to the Los Angeles Office of Finance. TOT returns are filed monthly, with payment for a given month generally due by the 25th of the following month. Operators who file or pay late face a 5% penalty for each of the first four months of delinquency, up to a 40% cap, plus 0.5% monthly interest on the unpaid principal. Online travel platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo remit TOT automatically in many cases, but that arrangement varies by platform and isn't guaranteed for every host or booking channel, which is part of why 2026's Measure TC seeks to make OTA collection mandatory rather than voluntary.
Los Angeles's Fee Transparency Rules
Since July 1, 2024, California's SB 478 and AB 537 have required every LA hotel, motel, and short-term rental to display the full price, including mandatory fees, the first time a rate is shown to a guest, rather than adding fees at checkout. TOT itself is a government-mandated tax and sits outside this upfront-disclosure requirement, but hotel-elected charges like the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance surcharge are not exempt, which is exactly the theory behind the class-action suits challenging how some LA hotels have disclosed that fee. Properties that advertise a base rate and add the worker protection surcharge only at booking risk the same exposure those lawsuits are testing.
Exemptions From Los Angeles's Hotel Tax
Guests who stay 30 consecutive days or longer are exempt from TOT, but the exemption is not automatic. The guest or hotel must have an approved long-term stay exemption application on file with the LA Office of Finance, and the tax applies retroactively to the full stay if a guest checks out early and falls under the 30-day threshold. Federal and California government employees traveling on official business with proper documentation may also qualify for exemption, and diplomatic personnel with valid tax-exemption cards are generally exempt as well. None of these exemptions apply automatically at booking; the property must keep the signed paperwork on file to support them in an audit.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Treating the long-stay exemption as automatic. A guest booking 30-plus days does not exempt a property from TOT by itself; without a signed exemption application on file, the full tax is owed and collectible in an audit.
- Not preparing for a mid-year rate change. If Measure TT passes in 2026, the city TOT could jump from 14% to 16% partway through a booking cycle, and reservations taken before the change still owe tax at the rate in effect on the stay date.
- Mislabeling the LATMD assessment as tax. The 2% Tourism Marketing District charge is a business improvement district fee, not government tax revenue, and folding it into the TOT line on a folio misstates what the guest is actually paying for.
- Missing the 25th-of-the-month filing deadline. Penalties start at 5% on the first day of delinquency and escalate every month up to a 40% cap, on top of 0.5% monthly interest on the unpaid tax.
- Assuming every OTA booking is already covered. Airbnb and Vrbo remit TOT automatically in many cases, but coverage varies by platform and channel, and Measure TC exists precisely because that coverage isn't universal today.
- Skipping Home-Sharing Ordinance registration. Short-term rental hosts must register with the city, post a registration number in listings, and stay within the 120-night annual cap for non-hosted stays, separate from any TOT obligation.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
None of this is about software, it's about getting the underlying numbers right consistently, month after month, across every layer Los Angeles stacks on top of a room rate. A property management system like roommaster can help by letting hotels configure the city TOT and the LATMD assessment as separate, clearly labeled tax codes rather than one blended rate, so nothing gets merged together on a guest folio or a monthly filing. Built-in revenue reports by date range make it easier to reconcile what was actually collected against what's owed each month, and a booking engine that shows the full nightly rate, taxes, and any elected surcharges upfront supports the kind of price transparency California's disclosure law now requires.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Los Angeles have its own hotel tax rate?
Yes. The City of Los Angeles sets its own Transient Occupancy Tax rate under municipal ordinance, currently 14%, separate from any state or county rate. California has no statewide hotel tax, and Los Angeles County's TOT only applies to unincorporated areas outside city limits.
2. What is Los Angeles's hotel tax?
Los Angeles's hotel tax is a 14% Transient Occupancy Tax charged on hotel, motel, and short-term rental stays of 30 consecutive days or fewer, plus a 2% Los Angeles Tourism Marketing District assessment at hotels with 50 or more rooms, for a combined 16% at those properties.
3. What is Los Angeles's lodging tax?
Lodging tax is another name for the same charge as Los Angeles's Transient Occupancy Tax. Whether a bill calls it hotel tax, lodging tax, occupancy tax, or bed tax, it refers to the same 14% city tax, plus the 2% tourism assessment where that applies.
4. How long must a guest stay in Los Angeles to avoid hotel tax?
A stay must last more than 30 consecutive days to qualify for a TOT exemption in Los Angeles, and the exemption isn't automatic. The guest or operator must have an approved long-term stay exemption application on file with the LA Office of Finance.
5. Does Los Angeles have hotel fee transparency rules?
Yes. Since July 1, 2024, California's SB 478 and AB 537 require Los Angeles hotels to show the full price, including mandatory fees, the first time a rate is displayed. Hotel-elected charges like the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance surcharge fall under this rule, and several LA hotels are currently facing litigation over how that surcharge is disclosed.
6. Who is responsible for filing Los Angeles's hotel tax?
The hotel or short-term rental operator is legally responsible for collecting TOT from guests and remitting it to the Los Angeles Office of Finance every month, generally by the 25th of the following month, even though the guest is the one who ultimately pays the tax.
7. Could Los Angeles's hotel tax rate change in 2026?
Possibly. A March 2026 ballot measure, Measure TT, would raise the city TOT from 14% to 16% through the end of 2028 before it settles at 15%, and a companion measure, Measure TC, would require online travel companies to collect and remit TOT directly instead of relying on individual hotels.
