Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax for Airbnb and Short-Term Rental Hosts

Texas has one of the cleaner setups for short-term rental tax, at least at the state level. There's one statewide tax with a clear rate and a clear stay cutoff, and Airbnb collects it. The local level is where Texas hosts end up owing money they didn't plan for, because cities and counties each run their own hotel tax and platform coverage of those is patchy.

Here's how both levels work, what Airbnb covers, and where you'd register for the rest. It's general information, not tax advice. Our Texas page has each layer with its source and the date we last checked it.

The state tax: 6%, on stays under 30 days

The Texas hotel occupancy tax is a state tax of 6% on the cost of a room that costs $15 or more per day. Texas law counts short-term rentals as hotels for this tax, so it covers a whole house, a condo, an apartment or a single bedroom the same way it covers a hotel room.

The cutoff is 30 days. A guest who has the right to occupy the place for 30 or more consecutive days is treated as a permanent resident, and the tax doesn't apply. "Right to occupy" is what counts, so a single 45-night booking is different from a string of short bookings by the same person.

The state tax is administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, which is also where you'd register if you ever need a state hotel tax account.

Airbnb collects the state tax

Airbnb collects and remits the 6% state hotel occupancy tax on Texas bookings made through Airbnb. You'll see it on the guest's receipt, and it never passes through your payout. Our Texas change page covers when that arrangement was confirmed.

This covers the state layer, for Airbnb bookings. It doesn't cover local hotel taxes Airbnb isn't collecting, and it doesn't cover bookings made anywhere else.

Local hotel taxes: where the gaps are

On top of the state's 6%, Texas cities can charge their own hotel occupancy tax, and so can counties and certain special districts. Each one is run by that government. Rates, registration and filing all depend on which city and county your address falls in, so a listing just outside city limits can owe a different set of taxes than one a few streets over.

Some examples of how the local layer looks:

• Many Texas cities charge 7% on top of the state's 6%, for a combined 13%. Some charge less, and a few have additional special district taxes on top.
• Houston signed its own agreement with Airbnb to collect the city's hotel tax, separate from the state arrangement. Local reporting at the time noted that the deal didn't cover Harris County's own hotel tax, which illustrates the pattern: one listing, three layers, and the platform collecting two of them.
• Austin pairs its hotel tax with a separate short-term rental license, required for any home rented for less than 30 consecutive days. The license is about permission to operate; the hotel tax is about the money. You need both. Our guide to permits, licenses and registration numbers explains the difference.

The question that matters for your listing: for each local hotel tax at your address, is Airbnb collecting it? Airbnb's Texas tax page lists what it collects and where. Any local layer that isn't on that list is one you're probably expected to collect and file yourself.

Where Texas hosts register

State hotel tax: the Texas Comptroller. If every one of your bookings goes through platforms that collect the state tax for you, you may not need your own state hotel tax account, but keep your booking records either way. If you take any direct bookings, or list on a platform that doesn't collect, you'll generally need to register and file state returns for those stays.

Local hotel tax: your city's finance or tax office, and separately your county's if it has its own tax. Many Texas cities have a page specifically for short-term rental hotel tax, with a registration form and a filing schedule. Local exemptions don't always match state exemptions, so a guest or stay that's exempt from the state tax isn't automatically exempt from the city's.

Short-term rental license or permit: also local, and only in cities that require one. It's separate from tax registration.

How the layers add up on one booking

Here's a made-up example to show the arithmetic, not anyone's actual rates. Say a guest books three nights at a listing where the room charges come to $600, the city charges a 7% hotel tax, the county charges 2%, and Airbnb collects the state tax and the city tax but not the county's.

The guest's receipt would show the two taxes Airbnb collected. The county's $12 is still owed, and since nobody charged the guest for it, it comes out of the host's pocket unless the host collects it some other way. Over a year of bookings, a small uncollected layer turns into a real bill, plus whatever penalties the county adds for late filing.

Which charges count toward the taxable amount (cleaning fees, extra-guest fees, pet fees) is set by the law for each tax. Airbnb's state tax pages say what it calculates each tax on. For a layer you collect yourself, the city or county's own guidance is the place to check.

Mistakes Texas hosts make most

Assuming the state tax is the whole tax. Because Airbnb collects the 6% statewide, it's easy to think Texas is handled. The local layers are where the money goes missing.

Using the mailing city instead of the taxing city. Plenty of Texas addresses with a city name on the envelope are outside that city's limits, or inside a different county than you'd guess. Taxes follow the boundary, not the ZIP code.

Forgetting about off-platform stays. A handful of direct bookings a year is still taxable, and those are the stays with no platform record behind them if anyone asks.

Treating a hotel tax registration as a license. In cities that license short-term rentals, being registered for hotel tax doesn't mean you're allowed to operate.

Direct bookings, repeat guests and second platforms

The state tax applies to the stay, not to Airbnb. When a guest books with you directly (a repeat family who texts you for next summer, say), nobody is collecting for you. The 6% state tax and any local hotel taxes still apply if the stay is under 30 days and the room costs $15 or more a day. You'd charge the guest, and you'd report it on your own returns.

The same goes for a second platform. Platform collection covers that platform's bookings only, and coverage of local taxes differs from platform to platform. Check each one you list on.

A quick Texas checklist

1. Confirm the city and county for your exact address, not your mailing city.
2. Write down each hotel tax that applies there: state, city, county and any special district.
3. Check Airbnb's Texas tax page and mark which of those Airbnb collects.
4. For anything Airbnb doesn't collect, find the city or county's short-term rental hotel tax page and register.
5. If you take direct bookings, set up a state account with the Comptroller as well.
6. If your city requires a short-term rental license, get it and put the number on your listing.

Our Texas page lists the layers we track, says whether Airbnb collects each one, and links to the agency where you'd register. You can follow it to get an email when we confirm a change. If something on Airbnb doesn't match what we show, tell us.

General information, not tax advice. Confirm with the Comptroller, your city or county, or a tax professional before you file.