Durham County levies a 6% room occupancy tax on gross receipts from any room, lodging, or accommodation rented for fewer than 90 days, which covers short-term rentals. Hosts also collect state and local sales tax. Returns are due by the 20th of each month. Stays of 90-plus consecutive days to
Durham County imposes a room occupancy tax on short-term lodging, including whole-house and room rentals booked for under 90 days. The tax is 6% of gross receipts from the rental of any room, lodging, or accommodation furnished by a hotel, motel, inn, or similar place, built up as a 3% base plus a 2% increase enacted in 1991 and a 1% increase in 2002. Operators remit monthly returns to Durham County Tax Administration by the 20th of the month following collection. The tax does not apply to accommodations furnished to the same person for at least 90 consecutive days, or to qualifying nonprofit, charitable, educational, benevolent, or religious lodging. Hosts must also collect North Carolina and local sales tax; some
Late or unpaid occupancy tax accrues interest and penalties collectible by Durham County Tax Administration, which can pursue the operator for the tax due. Sales-tax noncompliance is enforced separately by the NC Department of Revenue.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Backyard composting is legal in Durham and the city offers a curbside food-waste program. Compost piles must be maintained so they do not harbor rodents or p...
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Durham has no ordinance banning artificial turf in residential yards. It counts toward impervious-surface and lot-coverage limits under the UDO, and cannot b...
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Durham lies in the Neuse River and Falls Lake watersheds, where state and UDO riparian buffer rules require a 50-foot protected buffer of native vegetation a...
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Rain barrels and cisterns are legal and encouraged in Durham; no county ordinance bans collecting rooftop rainwater. Durham has historically offered subsidiz...
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Durham enforces a year-round odd/even irrigation ordinance and can impose tighter water-shortage stages. As of June 2026 Durham is in Stage 2, which bans spr...
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Durham declares dense weeds, vines, briars and undergrowth a public nuisance when they harbor pests or sit near buildings. Overgrowth over 12 inches high mus...
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