Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

The borough's sales tax chapter defines the terms that pull a short-term rental into its tax net. Kenai Peninsula Borough Code § 5.18.900 defines "temporary lodging" as a service to provide any lodging of less than one month, and defines "unit" as a room or single unit that is customarily advertised and rented at a flat rate regardless of the number of occupants, so a whole cabin, guest room or accessory dwelling booked nightly counts as a unit even if several people stay in it.

Because an STR host is furnishing lodging for compensation, the host is a "seller" under § 5.18.397 [sic, § 5.18.900] and must file for a borough certificate of registration under § 5.18.300 before accepting a booking, opening the platform listing, or adding a second unit, and must post that certificate at the rental. Registered hosts collect the borough's general sales tax (up to 3 percent under § 5.18.100) on each night's rent, with each unit's nightly rental computed as its own transaction rather than capped once per booking.

Hosts must file quarterly sales tax returns under § 5.18.500 unless the borough approves a different schedule, and a stay that runs a full month or longer for the same tenant falls outside "temporary lodging" and is instead treated as a real property rental subject to the ordinary $500-per-month rental cap. Fees for late filings, audit estimates and reinstatement to the active seller roll are set in the borough's Schedule of Rates, Charges and Fees under § 5.18.670.