Tampa, FL Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

Tampa is bound by Florida's vacation rental preemption statute, F.S. 509.032(7)(b), which prohibits municipalities from enacting any ordinance adopted on or after June 1, 2011 that prohibits vacation rentals, regulates the duration or frequency of rentals, or treats vacation rentals differently than other residential dwellings. Tampa did not adopt a pre-June-2011 STR ordinance, so the city cannot impose a stand-alone STR operating permit. Tampa's Code of Ordinances Chapter 27 (Zoning and Land Development) defines a vacation rental consistent with F.S. 509.242(1)(c) as a transient public lodging establishment that is rented more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less. Required registrations are: (1) a state Vacation Rental Dwelling or Vacation Rental Condo license issued by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, under F.S. Ch. 509; (2) a City of Tampa Business Tax Receipt under Tampa Code Chapter 24 obtained from the Business Tax Division; (3) a Florida Department of Revenue sales tax certificate to remit the 6% state sales tax and 0.5% Hillsborough discretionary surtax; and (4) registration with the Hillsborough County Tax Collector for the 6% Tourist Development Tax under F.S. 125.0104. Properties must comply with generally applicable Tampa zoning, building, life-safety, and noise ordinances. Airbnb and VRBO collect and remit the 6% state sales tax and 0.5% county surtax on Tampa bookings; they do NOT collect the 6% Hillsborough Tourist Development Tax, which the operator must remit directly to the Hillsborough County Tax Collector.