Lynchburg, VA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 6.5% of lodging charge (Sec. 36-223)
- Flat fee
- $1.00 per room per night
- Filing deadline
- 20th of each month for prior month
- Collector allowance
- 3% deduction for timely remittance
- Late penalty
- 10% penalty plus 10% annual interest
Summary
Lynchburg levies a transient lodging tax of 6.5 percent of the lodging charge plus a flat $1.00 per room per night on every "hotel," a term the code defines broadly to include tourist homes and rooming houses, which covers short-term rental stays under 30 consecutive days. The host collects the tax and remits it monthly to the city collector.
Hotel: Any public or private hotel, inn, hostelry, tourist home or house, motel, rooming house or other lodging place within the city offering lodging for compensation to any transient. ... There is hereby imposed and levied by the city on each transient a tax equivalent to six and one-half percent of the total amount paid for lodging and $1.00 per room per night, excluding any other taxes levied thereon, by or for any transient to any hotel.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 10).
Full Breakdown
Section 36-221 defines "hotel" as "any public or private hotel, inn, hostelry, tourist home or house, motel, rooming house or other lodging place within the city offering lodging for compensation to any transient," and a "transient" as anyone who, for no more than 30 consecutive days, obtains lodging at any hotel. That definition sweeps in short-term rental stays booked through platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo as long as the guest stays under 30 days. " The host, as the person providing the lodging, must collect the tax from the guest at the time payment is made under Section 36-225, and under Section 36-226 may keep a 3 percent collection allowance as compensation for accounting and remitting the tax, provided the payment is not delinquent.
Reports and remittances are due to the city collector by the twentieth day of each month for the prior month's collections under Section 36-227. Two narrow exemptions apply under Section 36-224: lodging billed to a hospital, medical clinic, convalescent home or home for the aged, and space rented in a licensed mobile home park. Neither exemption covers a typical short-term rental host.
Violations & Fines
Failing to remit the transient lodging tax on time draws a ten percent penalty plus ten percent annual interest on the unpaid tax under Section 36-228. Section 36-222 makes any violation of the tax division a class 2 misdemeanor, with each month's failure a separate offense, and lets the city petition the circuit court to close a noncompliant hotel or rental until it demonstrates willingness to comply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do short-term rental hosts in Lynchburg pay a lodging tax?
How is the Lynchburg lodging tax collected and reported?
What happens if a host does not pay the lodging tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lynchburg
How Lynchburg compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·Compare Lynchburg to another location·View the Virginia short-term rentals overview
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