Short-term rental permit cost in Tampa, FL

Combined lodging tax: 13.5% of revenue. Charged on what you earn, so it is not in the totals above.

2 figures are not yet verified against the city (Business licence, Inspection). They are left out of the total rather than counted as zero, so the real first-year cost is higher than shown.

Conditions attached

• No cap found. The City of Tampa has no short-term rental permit program, so there is no citywide limit on permits.
• No City of Tampa STR permit or registration exists: the city rental certificate/registration requirement was repealed May 4, 2023, but a City Business Tax Receipt is still required for residential rentals (fee shown is the single rental house class, Sec. 24-120 item 0233(e); apartments, hotel/motel and roominghouse classes are priced differently). State law: a whole-home vacation rental must hold a Florida DBPR vacation rental license (fees shown are state DBPR figures, not City fees: $50 new-application fee, $10 HEP fee, $170 full-year license fee for a single rental unit; renewal = $10 HEP + full-year license fee). Zoning: Tampa Code Sec. 27-43 defines a dwelling unit as used for owner occupancy or for rental, lease or other occupancy on a weekly or longer basis, and separately defines transient lodging units and hotels/motels; stays under one week are therefore outside the dwelling-unit definition (zoning-district permissions for transient lodging were not verified). Tax registration: transient rental sales tax is remitted to Florida DOR and the 6% Hillsborough tourist development tax to the Hillsborough County Tax Collector.

Source: https://www.tampa.gov/business-tax/how-do-i
Checked 2026-09-23 · Tampa City Code Sec. 24-120 (business tax, class 0233); Sec. 27-43 (zoning definitions); Ch. 19 Div. 6 (rental certificate program, repealed May 4, 2023); Hillsborough County Code Sec. 46-240 (tourist development tax)