Guides
Texas Short-Term Rental Taxes: An Operator Overview
Texas short-term rental taxes involve state, city, and county hotel occupancy taxes. This overview covers collection, filing, and reconciliation for operators.
What to take away
- Texas has no state income tax, but Texas short-term rental taxes come in three layers: the 6% state hotel occupancy tax and city and county hotel occupancy taxes apply to most stays under 30 days.
- The operator collects the tax from guests and remits it in two directions: the state share to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, and the city and county shares to each local taxing entity.
- The state return runs through the Comptroller's Webfile system, while local filing portals differ by city and county, and some cities like Austin require a separate city return.
- A reliable filing routine depends on mapping the property address, separating taxable room revenue, and reconciling after each filing.
What has to be true before the first step
Texas hotel occupancy tax has three layers. The state levies 6% under Tax Code Chapter 156 and collects it through the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Cities levy their own tax under Tax Code Chapter 351, and counties under Chapter 352, each at a rate set by local ordinance or commissioners court order, so no single state database covers every property. You need the property's legal address, including whether it sits inside city limits or in an unincorporated county area, and a booking ledger that separates rent, fees, and tax for every reservation.
Before the first remittance, register with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for a hotel occupancy tax account. The Comptroller issues the taxpayer number you use to file through Webfile, and some local portals require their own account setup before they accept a local return.
Before You Start
- Property legal address
- Inside city limits or unincorporated
- Booking ledger separates rent, fees, tax
- Platform collection does not remove duty
Texas hotel occupancy tax applies to stays under 30 consecutive days unless the city ordinance exempts them. The short-term rental definition in that ordinance sets the day count and the exemptions.
A vacation rental ledger typically itemizes rental rate, cleaning fee, service fee, and occupancy tax, so you can identify the taxable base for each city.
Texas operators should not assume the booking platform's automated tax collection matches the city's current rate. Platform defaults lag ordinance changes.
The sequence
- Map the property address to the exact city and county that impose hotel occupancy tax. Check the address against the city's boundary map and the county's unincorporated area map. Record the total tax rate as the sum of the 6% state rate and the city and county rates for that location.
- Separate taxable room revenue from non-taxable charges for the reporting period. Use the booking ledger to identify rental income, cleaning fees, and taxes. Only exclude a fee if the local ordinance explicitly exempts it.
- Deposit collected tax into a dedicated account before the filing due date. Match the balance to the sum of tax line items on guest receipts.
- File the state hotel occupancy tax return with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts through the Comptroller's Webfile system. The state return is filed monthly. The Comptroller's due date is the 20th day of the month after the reporting month.
- File the local hotel occupancy tax return through the correct portal for each jurisdiction. Many small cities use the Texas Comptroller's local hotel occupancy tax system, but Austin and San Antonio run their own filing portals. Most Texas local hotel taxes are due on the 20th day after the reporting month ends, but check each city.
- Save the confirmation and update your tax liability ledger. Mark the period as closed only after every jurisdiction, state and local, confirms receipt.
| City | Filing portal | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | City of Austin hotel occupancy tax portal | The 20th of the month after the reporting month is the common Texas date, stated on the city return |
| San Antonio | City of San Antonio hotel occupancy tax portal | Same common date, stated on the city return |
| Houston | Texas Comptroller local hotel occupancy tax system | The 20th of the month after the reporting month |
| Dallas | Texas Comptroller local hotel occupancy tax system | The 20th of the month after the reporting month |
Portal assignments and dates change, so open the city page before the first filing and confirm the frequency the city assigns.
Worked example. A two-night Austin stay at $200 a night. Assume the rate card for that address shows a 9% city rate and a 2% county rate, so the combined rate is 11%. Room revenue is $400. If the city taxes the $75 cleaning fee, the taxable base is $475.
Tax collected at 11% is $52.25: $42.75 for the city and $9.50 for the county. You remit each portion to its own jurisdiction, and the guest receipt shows the same $52.25. Run the arithmetic again with the rates on your own rate card, because the percentages above only show the method.
The step that decides the result
The step that decides the result is separating taxable room revenue from non-taxable charges. If you overstate the taxable base, you collect too much from guests and face refund claims. If you understate it, you owe the difference plus penalty and interest.
For federal reporting context, read US short-term rental taxes to see where local occupancy tax fits with Schedule E.
The correct taxable base is not the same in every Texas city, because some cities tax cleaning fees and some do not. Local ordinance language controls, not platform defaults.
Taxable Base Errors
Overstate
- Guest impact
- Overcharged
- Operator risk
- Refund claims
- Extra cost
- Refund processing
- Cause
- Wrong fee inclusion
Understate
- Guest impact
- Undercharged
- Operator risk
- Owe difference
- Extra cost
- Penalty and interest
- Cause
- Wrong fee exclusion
How to check each step came out right
Each step has a visible check that catches a silent error. Run these checks before you mark a filing complete.
- Rate matchthe combined rate on the return equals the city rate plus the county rate on the rate card, and both match the rate charged on every guest receipt in the period.
- Ledger tie-outthe tax line items in the booking ledger sum to the tax held in the dedicated account, to the cent.
- Portal confirmation numbersave the confirmation number, the filing date, and the amount filed for each jurisdiction, and paste them into the period worksheet.
- Closed-period flagmark the period closed only when every jurisdiction has a confirmation number and the tax account balance is zero.
Filing Accuracy Checks
- Ledger tax equals guest receipt tax
- Rate matches published city and county
- Confirmation matches period and jurisdiction
- Tax account balance returns to zero
What to do when a step goes wrong
The most common failure is applying the wrong tax rate because the property sits near a city boundary. If you discover a rate error after guests have paid, file a corrected local hotel occupancy tax return for the affected period through the same city or county portal you used for the original filing.
Adjust the guest receipt and either refund or collect the difference from the guest, with a dated note in the booking system. This recovery is called a correction filing.
A permit cap rule limits how many short-term rental permits a city issues, and that cap is separate from the tax duty: a permit refusal does not cancel the occupancy tax you already collected.
If a platform collected tax but withheld it, contact the platform before filing to confirm remittance, then reconcile the withheld amount against your own payment.
Fixing a Rate Error
- Discover rate error after payment
- File corrected local return
- Adjust guest receipt
- Refund or collect difference
- Add dated note in booking system
When to stop and hand it to a professional
Stop and hand the job to a Texas-licensed CPA or sales tax professional when any of these conditions is true. The property sits in an unincorporated county area with a county-only tax and the county has not published a rate chart. You receive a notice of audit, delinquency, or assessment from any local taxing entity.
The property had a mix of short-term and long-term stays in the same reporting period and the local ordinance requires day-by-day allocation. More than two local jurisdictions require different filing portals and you cannot reconcile the guest-level data.
A portfolio with properties in several Texas cities often crosses different rate stacks and due dates, which multiplies the chance of a silent error. In that case, a professional can reconcile the liability across jurisdictions before penalties accrue. Delaying a professional review often increases the penalty and interest exposure.
For a broader look at state-level differences, read short-term rental rules for owners and managers.
Common questions
Do I owe Texas hotel occupancy tax if I rent for less than 30 days? Most Texas cities and counties impose hotel occupancy tax on stays under 30 days, but each local ordinance defines the exact threshold and exemptions. Some cities exempt stays over 30 consecutive days, while counties may have different definitions.
The rate card should list both the city and county portions, because a missed county portion is as much a liability as a missed city portion.
Does Airbnb or Vrbo remit Texas local hotel taxes for me?
Where do I file Texas local hotel occupancy tax?
What happens if I miss a Texas short-term rental tax filing deadline?
Interest accrues until the balance is paid, and typical published rates for local hotel taxes run about 6% to 12% a year, charged monthly in most cases. A few cities charge a flat late fee instead. The penalty schedule may be hidden in the city ordinance; STR permit ordinance explains how to read the local definitions.
