Aiken County, SC Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate on STR gross proceeds
- 3%, since Oct. 1, 2004
- Covers
- Residences and other transient lodging
- Exempt stay length
- 30+ continuous days
- Remittance deadline
- 20th of each month
- Audit access notice
- 24 hours' written notice
- Late penalty
- 5%/month, capped at 100%
Summary
Short-term rental hosts in Aiken County, including residences and other properties rented to transients, owe the county's 3% local accommodations tax on gross rental proceeds, collected monthly and remitted to the county Finance Department.
Accommodations is defined as any room (excluding meeting and conference rooms), campground spaces, recreational vehicle spaces, lodgings, or sleeping accommodations furnished to transients by any hotel, inn, condominium, motel, bed and breakfast, residence, or any other place in which rooms, lodgings or sleeping accommodations are furnished for consideration within Aiken County, South Carolina.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 119).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 22-80 defines a taxable accommodation to include not just hotels and motels but any 'residence, or any other place in which rooms, lodgings or sleeping accommodations are furnished for consideration' to transients within Aiken County, which sweeps in short-term rental listings on platforms renting out houses or rooms. A rental to the same guest for 30 or more continuous days falls outside the transient definition and is not taxed. Sec. 5 percent cap on the county's share inside a municipality that has not consented by resolution to a higher combined rate, and the combined county-plus-municipal rate can never exceed 3 percent total.
Sec. 22-82 places the payment obligation on the guest but requires the host or listing service, as 'provider of the services,' to collect the tax at the time of service and remit a sworn county return, plus a copy of the state sales tax computation form, by the 20th of each month to the Aiken County Finance Department at 1930 University Parkway, Suite 3200, Aiken, SC 29801 (the next business day if the 20th is a weekend or holiday). Sec. 22-85 empowers the county's compliance officer, finance officer, or other authorized agent to enter the rental premises and audit books and records, and hosts must make those records available within 24 hours of written notice; inspection records are not public.
Sec. 22-87 separately requires real estate agents, brokers, or listing services handling a taxed rental to notify the county if that rental listing is later dropped.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 22-88 makes it a violation to fail to collect the tax, fail to remit it monthly or quarterly, knowingly submit false information on the county return, or refuse to produce books and records within 24 hours of written notice. The penalty is 5 percent per month on the unpaid tax, capped at 100 percent of the original amount owed, plus exposure to a misdemeanor charge carrying a $500 fine, with each day of continued noncompliance treated as a separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Airbnb-style short-term rentals owe Aiken County's accommodations tax?
How and when do short-term rental hosts remit the tax?
Can the county audit a short-term rental host's records?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Aiken County
How Aiken County compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·Compare Aiken County to another location·View the South Carolina short-term rentals overview
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