McCracken County, KY Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

County Code § 35.61 levies a 6% transient room tax on the rent charged for lodging in unincorporated McCracken County, applying not only to hotels and motels but to "any person that facilitates the rental of the accommodations by brokering, coordinating, or in any other way arranging for the rental," which reaches Airbnb- and VRBO-style short-term rentals. Section 35.63(H) specifically requires every host participant in an internet-brokering arrangement to register with the County Treasurer, disclosing the precise location of each rental unit and the tax identification number of whoever receives the rental income.

Registered hosts must then file the same monthly reports as any other lodging operator under § 35.63(A), due by the twentieth of the month following the rental period, even in months with no activity. A host is excused from filing directly only if the booking platform itself signs an enforceable written agreement with the County Fiscal Court to report, collect, and remit the tax on the host's behalf under § 35.63(H)(2). Stays of 30 consecutive days or more to the same renter are exempt from the tax entirely under § 35.62.

Late reports draw a 10% per month late fee (minimum $25) plus 7% annual interest under § 35.63(E), and the County Treasurer can require certified copies of other state and federal tax records to verify a host's filings, and can audit a host's rental records under § 35.66.