Transient Occupancy Tax
We have always valued our relationship with the San Carlos lodging community – and are pleased that our Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) procedures make the process for remitting taxes to us easier for you than ever before.
HdL Lodging Tax was hired to provide assistance to you, the lodging community. HdL’s TOT Processing Center will provide you with support for all aspects of transient occupancy tax, including return filing, payment, compliance, and general support. Instead of filing monthly with us, you will now file with the TOT Processing Center.
The TOT Processing Center offers telephone support at (650) 769-4148 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and an email option at SanCarlosTOT@hdlgov.com. We encourage you to take advantage of our online filing and payment portal, which allows you the convenience of filing and paying your TOT online. The web portal is: https://sancarlos.hdlgov.com/home/index/TOT.
Rates
A quarterly TOT is charged for all people who occupy a hotel in San Carlos (Municipal Code 3.24 Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax). Occupants are considered transients if they stay for a period of 30 days or fewer.
Effective January 1, 2019, in compliance with the November 2018 statewide election results for Measure QQ and subsequent adoption of Ordinance 1532 on December 10, 2018, the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax on hotel guests increased from 10 percent to 12 percent, with a 0.5 percent increase per year for subsequent years up to a maximum rate of 14 percent.
The TOT rates for the following reporting periods are as follows:
- January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019: 12%
- January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020: 12.5%
- January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021: 13%
- January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022: 13.5%
- January 1, 2023 and forward: 14%