Raleigh, NC Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Short-term rentals in Raleigh are subject to a stack of state, county, and city taxes and fees that apply to any rental of 90 days or fewer but most commonly affect nightly rentals through Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct channels. At the state level, NC General Statute Chapter 105 imposes a 4.75 percent general sales tax on accommodations. Wake County adds a 2.5 percent local sales tax on the same base and a 6 percent Room Occupancy Tax (ROT) administered by the Wake County Tax Administration, with ROT proceeds going primarily to the Raleigh Convention Center, PNC Arena, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh), and related tourism-development initiatives across the county. The combined effective tax rate on each nightly charge is approximately 13.25 percent, applied to the rent plus any cleaning fees or required guest fees.

Airbnb and Vrbo have voluntary collection agreements with the North Carolina Department of Revenue and Wake County covering sales tax and occupancy tax, and they collect and remit these taxes directly on behalf of hosts. Hosts renting exclusively through those platforms typically do not need to separately file state or county tax returns for booking activity on that platform, though they should still register with Wake County if the county requests it. Hosts who book directly - through personal websites, Facebook, Craigslist, or listings that do not include automatic tax collection - must register for a North Carolina sales and use tax account through the NC DOR online portal and a Wake County occupancy tax account, collect the full 13.25 percent from guests, and file monthly returns. At the Raleigh city level, the UDO requires a zoning permit for short-term rental use; this permit carries a one-time application fee (typically a few hundred dollars) but no recurring annual tax. There is no Raleigh-specific occupancy tax layered on top of the county ROT, which keeps Raleigh's rate lower than some peer cities like Charlotte where a city-level tax may apply.