The Moscone Expansion District tax is a special assessment San Francisco imposes on hotel room revenue to help pay for the Moscone Convention Center expansion. Zone 1 hotels, which cover the core downtown corridor, pay 1.25% of gross room revenue. Zone 2 hotels, covering the rest of the city, pay 0.3125%.1San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector. Moscone Expansion District Assessment The rates have been in place since January 1, 2014 and are set to stay the same until the district expires on June 30, 2045.2San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Moscone Expansion District Management District Plan
Which Zone Your Hotel Is In
Every hotel in San Francisco falls into one of two MED zones. There is no geographic exemption; the question is only which rate applies.
Zone 1 covers hotels with addresses on or east of Van Ness Avenue, on or east of South Van Ness Avenue, and on or north of 16th Street. The boundary runs as though Van Ness continued north to the Bay and 16th Street continued east to the Bay, which captures the Financial District, SoMa, Union Square, the convention-center neighborhoods, and Fisherman’s Wharf.1San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector. Moscone Expansion District Assessment
Zone 2 is everything else: hotels west of Van Ness or south of 16th Street that don’t meet the Zone 1 criteria. Properties in the Sunset, Richmond, and outer Mission are typical Zone 2 locations and pay the lower 0.3125% rate.
What Revenue the Assessment Applies To
The MED is calculated on gross revenue from guest room rentals. That figure excludes taxes already collected, credits, and charges for non-room services such as food or laundry. Revenue from stays by permanent residents, meaning guests who occupy a room for 30 or more consecutive days, is also excluded.1San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector. Moscone Expansion District Assessment
Keep room charges cleanly separated from ancillary charges in your books. The city can cross-reference MED filings against your TOT and TID returns, so the taxable room-revenue number should match across all three.
Where the MED Fits With TOT and TID
The MED is one of three separate charges San Francisco layers on a hotel room, and operators get into trouble when they treat them as a single tax. The three charges are:
- The 14% Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), collected from the guest and remitted to the Treasurer and Tax Collector.3Treasurer & Tax Collector. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT)
- The Tourism Improvement District (TID) assessment, 2.25% in Zone 1 and 2.00% in Zone 2.4San Francisco Tourism Improvement District. FAQs
- The MED assessment, 1.25% in Zone 1 and 0.3125% in Zone 2.1San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector. Moscone Expansion District Assessment
For a Zone 1 hotel, the combined burden on a room reaches 17.50%.4San Francisco Tourism Improvement District. FAQs A Zone 2 hotel runs about 16.31%. The TID portion has been adjusted in recent years, so confirm the current TID rate annually even though the MED rate itself is locked in.
Filing and Payment
The MED is filed and paid monthly to the San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector. It was originally a quarterly assessment, but a 2013 Board of Supervisors action amended the Management District Plan to move collection and distribution to a monthly cycle.5San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Resolution 529-21
Each return reports total gross room revenue for the month and applies the Zone 1 or Zone 2 multiplier. Keep the taxable base reconciled with what you report on TOT and TID returns for the same period.
Late payments trigger penalties and interest under Article 6 of the San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code, which is the city’s general enforcement framework for business taxes.2San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Moscone Expansion District Management District Plan Both penalties and interest accrue, so monthly filing on time is the cheapest path.
Short-Term Rental Hosts
The MED applies to hotel room revenue broadly, not just traditional hotels, and short-term rental hosts and their platforms are jointly and severally liable for the city’s transient occupancy taxes.3Treasurer & Tax Collector. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) A platform that has registered with the city as a Qualified Website Company, holds a Certificate of Authority, and files and pays the occupancy taxes on behalf of its hosts can take the filing obligation off the host for those taxes. The host still needs their own business registration.
If you list a unit on Airbnb, VRBO, or a similar platform for stays under 30 days, confirm in writing whether the platform is remitting MED and TID on your behalf. If it isn’t, you need to file yourself. Guessing wrong leaves you on the hook for the full unpaid amount plus penalties.
Exemptions
The main exemption is the 30-day rule. Once a guest has occupied a room for 30 consecutive days, that guest is a permanent resident, and the revenue from the stay drops out of the MED calculation entirely.1San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector. Moscone Expansion District Assessment The same 30-day threshold applies to the TOT.3Treasurer & Tax Collector. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Document the consecutive dates in the guest folio; an audit will test whether the stay was truly continuous.
Foreign diplomats may qualify for exemption from occupancy taxes under the federal Diplomatic Tax Exemption Program run by the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions. Eligibility depends on the diplomat’s rank and on whether the home country extends equivalent treatment to U.S. personnel.6United States Department of State. Diplomatic Tax Exemptions Ask for a valid tax exemption card at check-in and keep a copy with the folio.
For any exemption you claim, keep the backup. If the records aren’t there at audit, the city can bill you for the assessment as if the exemption never applied.