Short-term rental taxes in major US cities

How the taxes on a stay are built

A short-term rental guest in New York City pays combined state and city sales tax of 8⅞%, a city hotel room occupancy tax of 5.875% of the rent plus 50 cents to $2.00 per room per day, and a state unit fee of $1.50 per unit per day, according to the New York State Tax Department and the city’s Department of Finance¹²¹³¹⁰.

Each of those charges comes from a different authority, and the same pattern repeats across the country. States levy a general sales tax, a dedicated lodging tax, or both. Counties add surtaxes and tourist development taxes. Cities add an occupancy tax, and some districts add an assessment on top. The first table below lists each layer for each market as the authority publishes it.

• State lodging taxes. The Texas Comptroller lists the state hotel occupancy tax at 6% of the cost of a room and applies it to houses, condominiums and apartments as well as hotels²¹. Hawaii’s Department of Taxation charges a transient accommodations tax of 11.00% from January 1, 2026²⁴. The City of Boston reports that Massachusetts collects a 5.7% state room excise³⁰.
• State sales taxes. The Florida Department of Revenue lists the 6% state sales tax on transient rentals, plus any county discretionary sales surtax¹⁹²⁰. The District of Columbia’s Office of Tax and Revenue applies a 15.95% sales and use tax rate to rooms and lodgings furnished to transients³¹.
• County taxes. Florida counties and certain cities may impose a local option transient rental tax on rentals of six months or less, and Orange, Osceola and Okaloosa counties each list 6%¹⁹.
• City taxes. Los Angeles and San Francisco each charge a 14% transient occupancy tax¹⁵¹⁷. Austin charges 11% in addition to the state’s 6%²².
• District assessments. San Francisco’s Tourism Improvement District charges hotels and hosts 2.25% in Zone 1 and 2.00% in Zone 2¹⁷. San Diego’s Tourism Marketing District assessment of 2.00% applies to lodging businesses with 70 or more rooms¹⁸.

Some authorities publish a single combined rate. The City of Las Vegas lists a room tax of 13.38% inside the Primary Gaming Corridor and 13.00% outside it²³. The City of Boston puts the total tax from all sources at 14.95%³⁰. The Washington Department of Revenue lists a total lodging tax rate of 0.1570 for short-term rentals in Seattle, written as a decimal²⁹. Where an authority publishes only separate layers, this page lists them separately and does not add them up, because the layers can apply to different amounts. New York’s unit fee, for example, sits outside the sales tax base¹¹.

Notes on each market

• New York City. The state Tax Department charges sales tax on short-term rental units when the rental rate is more than $2.00 per unit per day¹⁰. The Department of Finance charges its hotel room occupancy tax in addition to state and city sales taxes, at 5.875% for occupancies before December 1, 2027 under Local Law 153 of 2023¹³. The flat amount rises with the rent, from 50 cents per day per room for rent of $10 to under $20 to $2.00 for rent of $40 or more¹⁴. The department does not treat a facility as a hotel if its units are rented on fewer than three occasions, or for not more than 14 days in total, during any four consecutive tax quarters or any twelve-month period ending on the last day of February¹³.
• Los Angeles. The Office of Finance defines a transient as a person who occupies a property for 30 days or less, and lists vacation and short-term rentals of any kind among the businesses that owe the 14% tax¹⁵.
• San Francisco. The Treasurer and Tax Collector applies the 14% tax to stays of less than 30 days, and the Tourism Improvement District charges each hotel and host in the district an assessment on gross revenue¹⁷.
• San Diego. The City Treasurer reports that voters approved Measure C, which divided the city into three tax zones with rates of 11.75%, 12.75% and 13.75% from May 1, 2025¹⁸.
• Miami-Dade County. The Florida Department of Revenue lists a combined local option transient rental tax of 6% for most of the county, 7% for Miami Beach and 4% for Surfside and Bal Harbour, on top of the 6% state sales tax and the county’s 1% surtax for 2026¹⁹²⁰. Airbnb’s Florida page splits the county rate into a 2% tourist development room tax, a 1% professional sports franchise facility tax and a 3% convention development tax⁴.
• Orlando, Kissimmee and Destin. The department lists the same 6% local option rate for Orange, Osceola and Okaloosa counties, with surtaxes of .5%, 1.5% and 1% for 2026¹⁹²⁰.
• Austin. The City of Austin’s 11% is made up of a 9% occupancy tax and a 2% venue project tax, and it is remitted separately from the state’s 6%²².
• Las Vegas. The city says most licensees pay 13.00%, and properties close to the Strip may fall inside the Primary Gaming Corridor at 13.38%²³.
• Honolulu. Operators on Oahu owe the state transient accommodations tax of 11.00% and the city’s Oahu transient accommodations tax of 3%, and the state says its rate increase applies whether or not the operator passes the tax on to the guest²⁴²⁶. Operators also owe the general excise tax of 4% plus a 0.5% Honolulu surcharge, and the Department of Taxation’s maximum pass-on rate for Honolulu is 4.7120%²⁷²⁸.
• Seattle. The Department of Revenue’s total for Seattle short-term rentals includes a convention center tax of 0.07 and the combined sales tax, which is made up of the 6.5% state rate, the local rate and the Regional Transit Authority rate²⁹. Airbnb also lists a Seattle “STR Platform Fee” of $4 per night for reservations of 28 nights and shorter in certain listing categories⁷.
• Boston. The city’s 6.5% local excise applies to hotels and short-term rental units alike. The city says short-term rentals hosted on platforms such as Airbnb also pay a 3% fee that is separate from the excise³⁰.
• Washington DC. The Office of Tax and Revenue describes 15.95% as a temporary rate, extended through Sept. 30, 2027 by the Hotel Surtax Amendment Act of 2025³¹.

When Airbnb collects the tax

Airbnb says that where it has an agreement with a government or is required by law, it calculates local taxes, collects them from guests at booking and remits them to the tax authority on the host’s behalf. Hosts in those areas remain responsible for all other tax obligations, including state and city taxes. Airbnb’s list of collection areas in the United States is organised state by state, and Hawaii does not appear on it¹.

In several markets the law or the city assigns collection to platforms:

• New York State has charged state and local sales tax on short-term rental units since March 1, 2025. A booking service must register as a sales tax vendor and collect the sales tax and the New York City unit fee on the stays it facilitates¹⁰.
• The City of Austin requires platforms that facilitate short-term rental bookings and accept payment to collect and remit its hotel occupancy tax from April 1, 2025²².
• San Francisco lets approved Qualified Website Companies collect, remit and file the tax for hosts, and names Airbnb among them¹⁷.
• The Los Angeles Office of Finance says Airbnb agreed to collect and remit the city tax from August 1, 2016, for transactions processed through its own service only¹⁵.
• Las Vegas requires accommodations facilitators that list properties in the city to hold a city business license, a rule the city traces to Nevada’s Assembly Bill No. 362 of 2021²³.
• The Texas Comptroller says online travel companies and other third-party rental companies may also be responsible for collecting the state tax²¹.

Airbnb’s lists do not always cover every layer an authority charges. Its New York page lists state sales tax of 7-8.875% and the city unit fee, and does not list the city hotel room occupancy tax². Its Florida page lists the state tax and surtax, and county taxes for Miami-Dade and Orange counties, and does not mention Osceola or Okaloosa counties⁴.

Registration tied to the tax

• New York City. An operator files a Certificate of Registration application with the Department of Finance, which issues a Certificate of Authority within five days. The department also notes that rentals of fewer than 30 days need a short-term rental registration¹⁴.
• New York State. An operator that rents out its own property for 3 days or less in a calendar year, without a booking service, does not have to register as a sales tax vendor¹⁰.
• Los Angeles. A Transient Occupancy Tax Registration Certificate is required within 30 days of starting business¹⁵.
• San Francisco. Hosts register as a business and, separately, as a host with the Office of Short-Term Rentals. When all of a host’s rent comes through a Qualified Website Company, that company files the returns¹⁷.
• San Diego. Rentals of less than one month need a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate, and a Short-Term Residential Occupancy license has been required since May 1, 2023¹⁸.
• Florida. Sales tax and surtax on transient rentals are always reported to the Department of Revenue, while counties that collect their own local option tax take those returns directly¹⁹.
• Honolulu. Operators and brokers on Oahu must hold a state registration under sections 237D-4 and 4.5 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. A return filed with the state counts as filed with the city, and the Oahu tax is paid to the city separately²⁶.
• Las Vegas. Licensed short-term rentals submit the city’s room tax report every month, including months with no bookings²³.

Recent changes with dates

• Hawaii. Act 96 of the 2025 session raised the state transient accommodations tax from 10.25% to 11.00% from January 1, 2026, according to a Department of Taxation announcement dated June 9, 2025²⁴.
• Los Angeles. Voters adopted Proposition TC at the election held on June 2, 2026. Published as Ordinance No. 188970, it requires online travel agencies, companies and platforms to collect and remit the city tax on all charges and fees imposed for a hotel room. Its definition of an intermediary includes hosting platforms, and its definition of rent lists service fees, booking fees and cancellation fees¹⁶. The ordinance text does not state a start date. When checked, Airbnb’s California page described the Los Angeles tax as 14% of the listing price including cleaning fees³.
• New York. State and local sales tax has applied to short-term rental units since March 1, 2025¹⁰. The Tax Department issued its bulletin on hotel and short-term rental unit occupancy on July 30, 2025 and updated it on July 9, 2026¹¹.
• Washington DC. An Office of Tax and Revenue notice dated Oct. 1, 2025 extended the temporary 15.95% rate through Sept. 30, 2027³¹.
• San Diego. The zone rates of 11.75%, 12.75% and 13.75% took effect on May 1, 2025, replacing the 10.50% rate the City Treasurer lists through April 30, 2025¹⁸.

Common questions

Sources

1. Airbnb, Inc., Areas where tax collection and remittance by Airbnb is available. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
2. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in New York. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
3. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in California. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
4. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Florida. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
5. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Texas. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
6. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Nevada. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
7. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Washington. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
8. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Massachusetts. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
9. Airbnb, Inc., Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in District of Columbia. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
10. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Sales tax on short-term rental unit occupancy (2025-04-17). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
11. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Hotel and Short-Term Rental Unit Occupancy (TB-ST-331) (2026-07-09). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
12. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, New York State Sales and Use Tax Rates by Jurisdiction, Publication 718, effective March 1, 2025 (2025-03-01). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
13. New York City Department of Finance, Instructions for Form NYC-HTX, Hotel Tax Quarterly Return (2025). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
14. New York City Department of Finance, Hotel room occupancy tax. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
15. City of Los Angeles Office of Finance, Transient Occupancy Tax Requirements. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
16. Office of the Los Angeles City Clerk, Proposition TC, Ordinance No. 188970, adopted by the voters at the election held on June 2, 2026 (2026-06-02). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
17. Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, City and County of San Francisco, Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
18. City of San Diego, Office of the City Treasurer, Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT)/Tourism Marketing District (TMD) (2025-06-03). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
19. Florida Department of Revenue, Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates (Tourist Development Tax Rates), Form DR-15TDT, R. 10/26. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
20. Florida Department of Revenue, Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026, Form DR-15DSS, R. 11/25. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
21. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Hotel Occupancy Tax. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
22. City of Austin Financial Services, Hotel Occupancy Taxes. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
23. City of Las Vegas Business Licensing, Transient Lodging Establishment Room Tax Instructions and Guidelines, Rev. March 2026. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
24. Hawaii Department of Taxation, Tax Announcement No. 2025-03, Transient Accommodations Tax Law Changes from 2025 Legislative Session (2025-06-09). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
25. Hawaii Department of Taxation, Instructions for Form TA-1, Periodic Transient Accommodations Tax Return (Rev. 2025). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
26. City and County of Honolulu, Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, O‘ahu Transient Accommodations Tax frequently asked questions, revised January 2026. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
27. Hawaii Department of Taxation, General Excise Tax (GET) Information (2026-01-14). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
28. Hawaii Department of Taxation, County Surcharge on General Excise and Use Tax (2024-01-09). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
29. Washington State Department of Revenue, Lodging Rates and Changes, effective October 1 - December 31, 2026. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
30. City of Boston, FY27 Budget, Volume I, Revenue Estimates and Analysis. Primary source, read 2026-10-09.
31. District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, Notice of Oct. 1, 2025 Tax Changes (2025-10-01). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.