Fort Lauderdale, FL Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Registration fee
- set by resolution, non-refundable
- Expiration date
- every September 30
- Renewal deadline
- 60 days before expiration
- Tax registration required
- FL DOR plus DBPR license
- False statement risk
- grounds for revocation
Summary
Vacation rental registration in Fort Lauderdale carries a non-refundable fee set by city commission resolution, and a certificate of compliance will not issue until the owner also holds a Florida Department of Revenue tax registration for tourist development and sales tax and a DBPR transient lodging license. Registrations expire every September 30, with late fees for renewals filed inside the final 60 days.
Sec. 15-274: The city charges reasonable fees for registration to compensate for administrative expenses. The fees for registration shall be provided for, from time to time, by resolution adopted by the city commission of the city. Fees are non-refundable. ... Sec. 15-281(a): All registrations for which a certificate of compliance has been issued under the provisions of this article shall be valid for no more than one (1) year, and all registrations and certificates of compliance shall expire on September 30th of each year. The application for renewal must be submitted no later than sixty (60) days prior to the September 30th expiration date. Late renewal fees shall be established by resolution of the city commission of the city and shall be charged to an application for renewal submitted prior to the expiration date but after the sixty (60) days required by this section. All applications for renewal received after September 30th shall be processed as a new application and subject to all applicable fees.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 67 Update 1 | Unified Land Development Code: Supplement 58 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 15-274 authorizes the city to charge 'reasonable fees for registration to compensate for administrative expenses,' set from time to time by city commission resolution, and specifies that all such fees are non-refundable. Before the city will issue the certificate of compliance itself, Sec. 15-277(5) requires proof of a Florida Department of Revenue certificate of registration for collecting and remitting tourist development taxes, sales surtaxes and transient rental taxes, on top of a Sec. 15-277(6) Florida DBPR license as a transient public lodging establishment and city and county business tax receipts under Sec.
15-277(3)-(4). Every registration and certificate expires on September 30 regardless of issue date (Sec. 15-281(a)), and renewal applications are due at least 60 days before that date; late fees apply to any renewal filed inside that 60-day window but before expiration, while any application filed after September 30 is processed as an entirely new application subject to full fees. A registration and certificate issued within 180 days of a September 30 deadline stays valid through the following year's cycle rather than expiring immediately. Sec. 15-276 makes a false or misleading statement on a registration, renewal or modification application, sworn under penalty of perjury, grounds for revoking a certificate already issued.
Violations & Fines
Filing a renewal inside the 60-day pre-expiration window triggers a late fee set by city commission resolution; filing after the September 30 expiration date instead restarts the process as a brand-new application at full fees. A false statement on any registration, renewal or modification application, sworn under penalty of perjury, is separately unlawful under Sec. 15-276 and grounds for revoking the certificate of compliance already issued.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get my vacation rental registration fee back if I'm denied?
What tax registrations do I need before Fort Lauderdale issues my certificate?
What if I renew my vacation rental registration late?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Lauderdale
How Fort Lauderdale compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·Florida rules heatmap·Compare Fort Lauderdale to another location·View the Florida short-term rentals overview
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