San Rafael, CA – The County of Marin is urging short-term lodging operators to take advantage of the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Amnesty Program before it ends at the end of year.
Operators can come into compliance by submitting Transient Occupancy Tax Registration and Business License forms by Dec. 31.
Out of the 215 possible non-compliant operators that were notified in October, only 133 have returned the program response cards and even fewer have registered their lodging establishment under the amnesty period.
Amnesty is being offered to operators providing short-term accommodations of any type in the unincorporated areas of Marin. Short-term lodging is considered 30 days or less.
Operators who do not register during the amnesty period are subject to a compliance audit and may be assessed penalties retroactively for up to three years. Any operator who fails to remit transient occupancy tax within the time required is subject to penalties of up to 20 percent. Continued delinquency will result in an additional .5 percent interest per month from the date on which the remittance first became delinquent.
In accordance with the Marin County Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance, “any person violating any of the provisions … shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable therefore by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for a period of not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”
County staff is auditing operators for compliance on a continual basis. Anyone offering short-term lodging that is not already enrolled in the TOT
and business license programs should contact the TOT hotline at (415) 473-6123 or go to www.marincounty.org/df/tot.