Lake Charles, LA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Sec. 4, 'Occupational license, fee and contact,' sets the financial obligations for every short-term rental in Lake Charles. 00 fee paid yearly for each dwelling unit offered for short-term rental. Subsection (b) gives operators two compliance paths on hotel tax: either the rental must use a booking platform that itself remits local taxes, including hotel tax, on the operator's behalf, or the operator must independently show proof of tax compliance on a yearly basis. This ties the short-term rental framework back into the city's broader occupational license tax scheme in chapter 12: Sec.

12-16 authorizes the tax collector to make and enforce rules for collecting taxes under the chapter, and Sec. 12-26 allows the collector to add a specific penalty covering the cost of any examination, audit or hearing needed when a taxpayer fails to file or files a false or grossly incorrect return. Subsection (c) rounds out the license application requirement by requiring a local emergency contact's name, address, phone number and email address at the time of application, alongside the fee and tax-compliance showing.