Miami Beach, FL Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code Sec. 102-307
- Room rent tax rate
- 4% of rent
- Restaurant tax rate
- 2% of food/beverage sales
- Registration deadline
- Within 15 days of commencing business
- First delinquency penalty
- 10% of tax owed
- Fraud penalty
- 50% of tax owed, on top of other penalties
Summary
Miami Beach levies a 4% resort tax on the rent of every hotel, motel, roominghouse or apartment house room, plus 2% on restaurant food and beverage sales, collected by the operator from the guest under City Code Sec. 102-307.
There is hereby levied and there shall be paid a tax of four percent on the rent of every occupancy of a room or rooms in any hotel, motel, roominghouse, or apartment house in the city, and two percent upon the total sales price of all items of food, beverages, alcoholic beverages or wine sold at retail of any restaurant. Such tax shall constitute a debt owed by the occupant or guest to the city, extinguished only by payment to the operator or to the city. The occupant or guest shall pay the tax to the operator of the hotel, motel, roominghouse, apartment house or restaurant at the time the rent or sales price is paid.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 98 | Resiliency Code (Current Land Development Regulations): Publication | Ordinance 89-2665 (Previous Land Development Regulations): Publication).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 102-307 imposes the city's resort tax at two rates: four percent on the rent of every occupancy of a room in a hotel, motel, roominghouse or apartment house, and two percent on the total sales price of food, beverages, alcoholic beverages or wine sold at retail by any restaurant. The tax is a debt owed by the occupant or guest to the city, extinguished only by payment to the operator or the city, and it must be paid at the time rent or the sales price is paid, or proportionately with each installment if rent is paid in installments.
00, before the flat four percent applies above that threshold. Under Sec. 102-306, an operator is broadly defined to include an owner, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession or licensee running the hotel, motel, roominghouse, apartment house or restaurant, and each operator must register for a resort tax registration certificate within 15 days of commencing business under Sec. 102-310, posting it conspicuously on the premises. Exemptions under Sec. 102-308 cover federal/state/city government use, nonprofit religious/educational/charitable activity, a permanent resident's sole place of abode, and leases longer than six months.
Operators file monthly returns online by the 20th of the following month under Sec. 102-311, and the city can require escrow of collections after 30 days of delinquency under Sec. 102-312.
Violations & Fines
An operator who fails to timely remit resort tax owes a 10 percent penalty on the tax under Sec. 102-314(a), plus an additional 10 percent for each further 30-day period of delinquency up to a 50 percent cap, and a 50 percent fraud penalty if the finance director finds the nonpayment fraudulent, on top of interest at the highest legal rate. Responsible officers of a delinquent operator can be held personally, jointly and severally liable for the unpaid tax under Sec. 102-313, and unpaid resort tax renewal evidence is required before the city will reissue or renew the operator's business license.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Miami Beach's hotel resort tax rate?
Who actually pays the Miami Beach resort tax?
Do long-term renters pay the Miami Beach resort tax?
What happens if a hotel operator doesn't remit resort tax on time?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Miami Beach
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