Auburn, AL Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Auburn taxes short-term lodging at the city and state levels. The City of Auburn lodging tax is 7%, levied on persons renting or furnishing rooms, lodgings, or accommodations to transients for periods of less than 180 days of continuous occupation; the tax applies to all charges for the accommodation and is due by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. On top of the city tax, Alabama's state lodgings tax applies. Lee County is not among the 16 designated mountain-lakes counties that carry the higher 5% state rate, so the Alabama state lodgings tax in Auburn is 4%, levied under Section 40-26-1 et seq. of the Code of Alabama 1975 on transient stays of fewer than 180 continuous days. Separately, operators must hold a city short-term rental business license. The Auburn ordinance sets the annual business license fee at a percentage of gross receipts equal to one-quarter of one percent (gross receipts multiplied by .0025), provided the minimum business license fee is $100.00; this applies to both the short-term non-primary rental and homestay categories. Taxable lodging charges generally include cleaning and similar fees collected for the stay. Operators register a state lodgings-tax account with the Alabama Department of Revenue and remit city lodging tax to Auburn.