Richmond, VA Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)
Key Facts
- Authority
- VA §15.2-983
- Platform tax collection
- Voluntary agreements
- Host duty
- Independent of platform
- Severity
- Moderate
Summary
Booking platforms operating in Richmond must work within Virginia's STR registry framework under VA §15.2-983, which permits localities to require listing information and tax remittance from short-term rental intermediaries.
B. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, general or special, any locality may, by ordinance, establish a short-term rental registry and require operators within the locality to register annually. The registration shall be ministerial in nature and shall require the operator to provide (i) the complete name of the operator, (ii) the address of each property in the locality offered for short-term rental by the operator, and (iii) an attestation that the property owner has granted permission for use of such property as a short-term rental if the operator is a lessee or sublessee. A locality may charge a reasonable fee for such registration related to the actual costs of establishing and maintaining the registry. [...] C. 1. If a locality adopts a registry ordinance pursuant to this section, such ordinance may include a penalty not to exceed $500 per violation for an operator required to register who offers for short-term rental a property that is not registered with the locality. Such ordinance may provide that unless and until an operator pays the penalty and registers such property, the operator may not continue to offer such property for short-term rental. Upon repeated violations of a registry ordinance as it relates to a specific property, an operator may be prohibited from registering and offering that property for short-term rental.
Full Breakdown
Under VA §15.2-983, Richmond may require booking platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo to remit transient occupancy tax on behalf of hosts and to share aggregated listing data with the City for enforcement. Platforms partner with the City via voluntary collection agreements covering Richmond's 8% lodging tax plus the 5.3% Virginia transient occupancy tax. Hosts bear the registration duty regardless of whether the platform collects taxes. Platforms removing non-compliant listings remains discretionary; Richmond cannot mandate platform-level delisting under current Virginia law.
Violations & Fines
Platforms failing to remit collected taxes may face civil enforcement; hosts on platforms remain individually liable for permit registration and tax remittance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Airbnb pay my Richmond taxes for me?
Can Richmond force Airbnb to delist illegal STRs?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Richmond
Compare Richmond to another location·View the Virginia short-term rentals overview
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