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Florida short-term rental licenses and taxes: the Central Florida guide
The short version: first confirm the property is even allowed to be a short-term rental where it sits, this is the step most people skip. Then you need four registrations, a state DBPR vacation rental license, a Florida Department of Revenue sales tax account, a county tourist development tax account, and usually a local business tax receipt, and you collect and remit tax on every stay. Budget about $230 to start and ~$180/year to keep the state license, plus local fees.
Step zero: can you even run one there?
Before a single registration, answer the question almost everyone gets to last: is a short-term rental permitted at this address? Florida law sets the licensing, but where STRs are allowed is decided locally, by zoning, and privately, by HOA or condo rules.
This is the single most important thing to understand about the Orlando market: the City of Orlando and much of Orange County restrict non-owner-occupied whole-home short-term rentals to commercially zoned areas. In the city, renting out a whole house for stays under 30 days generally isn't allowed in ordinary residential neighborhoods; what is allowed is "home sharing," where the owner lives on site and is present, registered for about $275/year (City of Orlando).
That one rule is why the Central Florida vacation-home market lives where it does. The whole-home rentals you see near the parks are overwhelmingly in Osceola (Kissimmee), Polk (Davenport and the Four Corners area), and Lake, counties and communities that actually zoned for it. Osceola even created a dedicated short-term rental planned-development (STRPD) zoning district. If someone tells you to "just buy a house in Orlando and put it on Airbnb," they're describing something the city usually won't allow. Confirm zoning for the specific address, and read the HOA or condo docs, before you fall in love with a property.
The four registrations
| Registration | Who issues it | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Vacation rental dwelling license | Florida DBPR (Hotels & Restaurants) | Required once a house, townhouse, or condo is rented more than three times a year for stays under 30 days, or advertised as such. |
| Sales tax account | Florida Dept. of Revenue (Form DR-1) | Short stays are taxable. Mandatory charges tied to the stay, like cleaning fees, are generally part of the taxable amount. |
| Tourist development tax account | The county | A separate "bed tax," on top of state sales tax. Some counties collect it directly; some let the platform remit. |
| Local business tax receipt / STR registration | County and sometimes city | Varies widely. Polk requires a local business tax receipt per rental after the DBPR license; Osceola requires zoning verification plus a business tax receipt. |
What it costs
The state DBPR license for a single home runs $170 per year, plus a one-time $50 application fee and a $10 education fee the first time, so roughly $230 to start and about $180 a year after (DBPR fee schedule). Local business tax receipts are usually modest (tens of dollars, set by each county or city). If you're doing an owner-occupied home share inside the City of Orlando instead, that registration is about $275/year.
How to get them, and keep them
A workable order, start to running:
Confirm zoning and HOA/condo rules for the exact address. Get it in writing where you can.
Register with the Florida Department of Revenue (DR-1) for a sales tax account.
Open the county tourist development tax account.
Get the local business tax receipt and any county zoning sign-off.
Apply for the DBPR vacation rental license. Approval is usually quick; the license is emailed.
Put your license number on your listings and start collecting the right tax on every booking.
Then it's about not letting pieces lapse, which is where owners slip. The DBPR license renews annually on a district schedule (Orange County's district renews April 1; others differ, so check yours). The local business tax receipt renews on the county's cycle. And every year you file a tangible personal property tax return (more on that below). The quiet one is tourist development tax in any county or on any channel the platform doesn't collect for you, that's yours to file monthly, and it adds up fast if ignored.
What guests pay, by county
| County | State sales tax | Tourist development tax | Combined (before county surtax) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | 6% | 6% | 12% |
| Osceola | 6% | 6% | 12% |
| Polk | 6% | 5% | 11% |
Rates effective January 1, 2026 (source). Each county may also add a discretionary sales surtax, generally 0.5% to 2%.
Check what your platform already collects. Airbnb remits Florida's state sales tax and surtax statewide, plus the tourist development tax in some counties but not all (Airbnb's Florida list). Anything not on that list, and every direct booking, is yours to file. Getting this wrong, assuming the platform has it handled when it doesn't, is the most common way owners quietly fall behind.
The honest truth about enforcement
Florida is still figuring out how to write and enforce short-term rental rules, and so far there hasn't been much movement. The state passed a statewide registration bill in 2024; the governor vetoed it, and the effort stalled in 2025. For now, enforcement is patchy and inconsistent.
There's also a back-end bill for cutting corners. When a county reconciles accounts or you go to sell, unpaid tourist tax comes due with penalties and interest, going back years, and operating without the state license carries fines up to $1,000 per offense (Fla. Stat. 509.261). An unlicensed rental can also void your insurance, complicate financing, and get you delisted if platforms start requiring a license number. Compliance costs a couple hundred dollars a year. Unwinding years of it costs a lot more.
Three taxes owners overlook
- Tangible personal property tax. The furniture, appliances, and equipment in a rental are business assets. The DR-405 return is generally due April 1, with up to a $25,000 exemption when you file. Ten years in this business, and I didn't know this one applied until I dug into it, if it slipped past me, it's slipping past plenty of owners.
- Property tax. Ordinary real estate tax still applies, and losing a homestead exemption on a converted property can change the number.
- Federal income tax. Net profit goes on your federal return. Florida has no individual state income tax.
Rules, rates, and local ordinances change, and this is general education, not legal or tax advice. Confirm the specifics with DBPR, the Florida Department of Revenue, and your county, and talk to a CPA and attorney about your own situation.
Buying with me? I'll walk you through it.
When I represent you as your buyer's agent, I walk you through every registration above, in order, so nothing gets missed. You keep control of your own accounts and filings; I make sure you know exactly what to do and when, and I send annual reminders so renewals don't slip. Book a consultation to start.
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