Rockford, IL Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 5% of room rental rate
- Applies to
- any place with rooms for hire
- Long-stay exemption
- over 30 consecutive days
- Remittance
- monthly to finance director
- First-offense fine
- at least $200
Summary
Rockford imposes a 5% Hotel/Motel Tourism Tax on the room rental rate for anyone renting sleeping accommodations for hire: a definition broad enough to sweep in short-term rental hosts, not just traditional hotels.
There is hereby imposed upon all persons engaged in the city in the business of renting, leasing, or letting rooms in a hotel (as defined in subsection (b)), at a rate of five percent of the room rental rate as defined in subsection (b).
(b)Definitions. The following terms used in this division shall be defined as follows: Hotel means a building or structure kept, used, or maintained as, or advertised, or held out to the public to be an inn, family hotel, apartment hotel, lodging house, dormitory, or place where sleeping or rooming accommodations are furnished for hire to rent, whether with or without meals, in which one or more sleeping rooms are used and maintained for the accommodation of guests, lodgers, or roomers.
Online travel company (OTC) means an organization that books reserves, or rents hotel rooms and makes other travel arrangements for consumers via the world wide web, internet or other digital means.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 18).
Full Breakdown
Rockford's Code of Ordinances Sec. 5-70 imposes a 5 percent tax on the room rental rate for any person renting, leasing, or letting rooms in a 'hotel,' which the ordinance defines as any inn, lodging house, dormitory, or other place where sleeping or rooming accommodations are furnished for hire: with no minimum room count, so a single-unit short-term rental fits the definition. The division separately defines 'online travel company' bookings, tying the tax to platform-facilitated reservations. Stays over 30 consecutive days to one person are exempt under Sec. 5-71. Operators must remit the tax monthly to the finance director and keep daily records of room rental rate and tax collected under Sec. 5-73.
Violations & Fines
Violating the tax division is punishable by a fine of at least $200 for a first offense and at least $300 for each subsequent offense within 180 days; each day of violation counts separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rockford's hotel tax apply to Airbnb and Vrbo rentals?
Is there an exemption for long-term stays?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Rockford
How Rockford compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·Compare Rockford to another location·View the Illinois short-term rentals overview
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