Essex County, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

Short-term rental regulation in Essex County operates on three layers, none of them at the county level. State tax layer: P.L. 2018 c. 49 (effective October 1, 2018) extended NJ Sales Tax (currently 6.625%) and the State Occupancy Fee (5% statewide, but only 1% in Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, and Atlantic City because those cities already impose their own local hotel taxes) to transient accommodations rented through a transient space marketplace or operated as a professionally managed unit. P.L. 2019 c. 235 narrowed the definition so that direct owner rentals of fewer than three units (booked without a marketplace and not professionally managed) are exempt from State Sales Tax and the State Occupancy Fee. Marketplaces such as Airbnb and Vrbo are required to collect and remit the tax on the host's behalf when used. Municipal tax layer: under N.J.S.A. 40:48F-1 et seq., NJ municipalities may impose a Municipal Occupancy Tax of up to 3% on transient accommodations; Newark has adopted its own hotel-occupancy tax (administered separately). Permit/zoning layer: each Essex County municipality decides whether to require an STR permit, registration, or rental license. Newark's Department of Economic and Housing Development administers rental registration; some Essex towns have added STR-specific licenses, while others permit STRs only if they meet the town's general two-family or boarding-house rules under N.J.S.A. 40:55D. Essex County itself issues no STR permits.