Emerald Coast & Panhandle property management — Airbnb, short-term & long-term rentals

Every stay of six months or less carries Florida’s 6% sales tax under §212.03, a county tourist development tax under §125.0104 and a county discretionary sales surtax. DOR form DR-15TDT lists 6% in Okaloosa County and 5% in Walton, Bay, Santa Rosa, Escambia and Gulf counties. Walton’s 5% applies only in its South Walton ZIP codes, and Bay’s only in listed ZIP codes; the Bay County Tax Collector describes it as the tax for Panama City Beach, Panama City and Mexico Beach area properties.

All six counties collect the tourist tax themselves rather than through the state. Bay County moved collection from the Clerk to the Tax Collector on October 1, 2026, and the Walton County Clerk notes that no booking platform remits its tax for the owner. The 2026 DR-15DSS lists a 1% surtax in five of the counties and 1.5% in Escambia.

Florida requires a DBPR license for any unit rented more than three times a year for less than 30 days, and §509.032(7)(b) bars local rules that ban vacation rentals or regulate their duration or frequency unless adopted on or before June 1, 2011. Within those limits, the cities and counties here regulate through registration, occupancy caps, signs and responsible-party rules. Destin and Fort Walton Beach cap single-family occupancy at two per bedroom plus four, up to 24; Walton and unincorporated Bay counties use one guest per 150 square feet of floor area; Panama City Beach has Fire Rescue set the limit after inspection.

The 30A towns of Seaside, WaterColor, Alys Beach and Rosemary Beach, and Miramar Beach next to Destin, are unincorporated Walton County, so the county certificate applies there along with each community’s covenants. Okaloosa County says its only area where short-term rentals can be prohibited is the B-1 Private Residential Area on Okaloosa Island, under covenants older than the 2011 preemption.

Three airports serve the coast: Pensacola International (PNS), Destin–Fort Walton Beach (VPS) and Northwest Florida Beaches International (ECP), which sits about 20 minutes from Panama City Beach. State parks such as Henderson Beach, Grayton Beach, Topsail Hill Preserve, St. Andrews and St. Joseph Peninsula, and the Gulf Islands National Seashore near Pensacola Beach and Navarre, draw beach and nature visitors.

The military is a steady source of longer stays. Naval Air Station Pensacola, home station of the Blue Angels, Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field and Tyndall Air Force Base bring families on orders and visitors for ceremonies and training, and hospitals from Pensacola to Port St. Joe bring medical staff on assignment. Those stays often run 30 days or more, which is outside Florida’s vacation rental definition but still taxed when six months or less.