Detroit, MI Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Three separate tax/fee streams may apply to a Detroit short-term rental, and it is important not to conflate them. First, the state use tax: Michigan imposes a 6% use tax on 'rooms or lodging furnished by hotelkeepers, motel operators, and other persons furnishing accommodations that are available to the public on the basis of a commercial and business enterprise' for stays of less than 30 days, under MCL 205.93a. The tax is collected by the operator from the transient guest and remitted to the Michigan Department of Treasury. Operators must register for a Sales, Use and Withholding (SUW) account with Treasury; platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit the 6% use tax on behalf of hosts for bookings made through the platform, but the operator remains responsible for any direct bookings. Second, the Wayne County convention and tourism marketing assessment: the Michigan Convention and Tourism Marketing Act, MCL 141.1351 et seq., authorizes a convention and tourism bureau (Visit Detroit) to collect up to a 2% assessment on the room charge at lodging facilities with 35 or more rooms within the bureau's region; this assessment is opt-in by facility and does not, by its terms, apply to a typical owner-occupied or single-dwelling STR. Confirm applicability with the Wayne County Treasurer and Visit Detroit before assuming a residential STR owes the assessment. Third, there is no separate City of Detroit accommodations, hotel, or transient occupancy tax codified in the Detroit City Code; the only city-level dollar obligation tied to operating a rental is the $150 annual rental program fee paid to BSEED under Chapter 8, Article XV. The January 3, 2024 draft Short Term Rental Ordinance contemplated an annual STR license fee on top of the rental registration fee, but until that draft is adopted no separate STR fee is codified.