Charles County, MD Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Chapter 281, Article VI of the Charles County Code taxes short-term lodging, and the 2024 rewrite (Bill No. 2024-11) makes clear the tax reaches Airbnb-style rentals, not just commercial hotels. Section 281-10 defines HOTEL to include "an apartment; a cottage; a hostelry; an inn; a motel; a rooming house; a tourist home; or dwelling unit," and defines BROKER as anyone other than the owner or operator who "receives, facilitates or arranges payment of a transient charge, directly, indirectly, or through an online platform," which sweeps in Airbnb and Vrbo.

Section 281-11 sets the rate: a tax of 5% on every transient charge (a lodging charge for a stay of 120 days or less) paid to a hotel or broker located in the county. Under Section 281-12, the host or platform must itemize the tax on the guest's bill, collect it, and hold it in trust for the county until remitted. Section 281-13 requires a monthly hotel rental tax return filed with the Director of Fiscal and Administrative Services by the 21st of each month covering the prior month's transient charges.

5% monthly interest on unpaid tax, plus a 10% penalty if payment is more than one month late, and unpaid tax becomes a lien against the operator's real and personal property. Section 281-16 exempts room rental paid by treaty-exempt foreign officials, rentals paid to hospitals or convalescent homes, and rentals paid through a county-administered voucher system.