Do Airbnb and Vrbo Collect Florida Rental Taxes? (2026)

Airbnb and Vrbo both collect and remit Florida’s 6% state sales tax and the county surtax on short stays booked through them, everywhere in Florida. The county tourist development tax is different: each platform collects it only in the counties it lists, and in our area that is 17 of the 33 counties where we have county pages. Owners still file wherever the platform does not collect, and on every booking that comes from somewhere else.

Does Florida law require platforms to collect?

Not through the marketplace statute. Florida’s marketplace sales law, §212.05965, defines a marketplace as a place or electronic medium “through which tangible personal property is offered for sale,” and excludes people who solely provide travel agency services such as lodging bookings.

The transient rental tax itself, in §212.03(2), puts the duty on the owner, lessor or person receiving the rent. What Airbnb and Vrbo collect is set out in their own help pages, quoted below as of October 2026.

What do Airbnb and Vrbo collect statewide?

Airbnb’s Florida occupancy tax page says guests pay the 6% Florida Transient Rental Tax and the 0.5% to 1.5% Florida Discretionary Sales Surtax “for reservations 182 nights and shorter,” calculated on the listing price including any cleaning fee.

Vrbo’s U.S. tax page for states F to M lists the “State Transient Rentals Tax, Discretionary County Surtax” for the state of Florida “under 184 nights,” collected since December 1, 2018. Both platforms also list a group of smaller counties, mostly ones where the Department of Revenue administers the tourist tax, where they collect it. None of the counties we serve is on either of those lists; the DR-15TDT chart shows all of them collecting their own tourist tax.

Which county tourist taxes do they collect?

This table covers the counties with a Florida Hosts county page. “Yes” means the county appears on that platform’s own Florida list for the county tourist development tax.

County	Airbnb collects county tax	Vrbo collects county tax
Alachua	Yes	Yes
Bay	No	No
Brevard	Yes	Yes
Broward	Yes	Yes
Charlotte	Yes	Yes
Collier	Yes	Yes
Duval	No	No
Escambia	No	No
Gulf	No	No
Hillsborough	Yes	Yes
Indian River	Yes	Yes
Lake	Yes	Yes
Lee	Yes	Yes
Leon	Yes	Yes
Manatee	No	No
Marion	No	No
Martin	No	No
Miami-Dade	Yes (see note)	Yes (see note)
Monroe	No	No
Nassau	No	No
Okaloosa	No	No
Orange	Yes	Yes
Osceola	No	No
Palm Beach	No	No
Pinellas	Yes	Yes
Polk	Yes	Yes
St. Johns	No	No
St. Lucie	No	No
Santa Rosa	No	No
Sarasota	Yes	Yes
Seminole	Yes	Yes
Volusia	Yes	Yes
Walton	No	No

Miami-Dade needs a closer look. Airbnb lists a 2% Tourist Development Room Tax and a 1% Professional Sports Franchise Facility Tax that do not apply in Miami Beach, Bal Harbour and Surfside, and a 3% Convention Development Tax that does not apply in Bal Harbour and Surfside. It also collects Surfside’s 4% resort tax. Vrbo lists the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Tax, collected since April 1, 2020, without a city breakdown. Neither page lists Miami Beach’s own city tax. Vrbo’s Volusia entry also includes the district convention development tax.

If your county says “No” for both, you collect and remit the county tax on every booking. Our county pages and the tourist development tax guide give each rate.

What do the counties themselves say?

County statements line up with the platform lists. The Osceola County Tax Collector says the county is not contracted with Airbnb, Vrbo, Evolve or any other platform, and that property owners and agents must collect and remit the 6% tourist tax. The Okaloosa County Clerk says Okaloosa is not contracted with any platform, including Airbnb, HomeAway and Vrbo, to receive taxes on an owner’s behalf.

On the other side, the Sarasota County Tax Collector’s registration form says the county has collection agreements with Airbnb and HomeAway/Vrbo. An owner renting exclusively through those platforms does not need to complete the form; an owner who also rents privately or through another reservation system does.

Where does the owner still have to file?

Even with platform collection, these stay with you or your manager:

• Every booking that does not go through Airbnb or Vrbo, including direct bookings, repeat guests and other sites. The full state, surtax and county tax is yours to collect.
• The county tourist tax in every county marked “No” above, on all bookings.
• City taxes the platforms do not list. Airbnb’s page says hosts remain responsible for “all other tax obligations, including state and city jurisdictions.”
• Your Department of Revenue registration. Rule 12A-1.061(9)(a) and the GT-800034 brochure require every person who rents transient accommodations to register, without an exception for platform bookings. How to report bookings a platform already taxed is a question to put to the Department in writing at the email address in that brochure.
• County registration where the county requires it even for platform-only owners. Check with the county; Sarasota’s form is one that says platform-only owners can skip it.

Do the platforms use Florida’s six-month rule?

Not exactly. Florida taxes rentals of six months or less under §212.03 and §125.0104. Airbnb’s page applies the taxes to reservations of 182 nights and shorter, and Vrbo’s page uses under 184 nights for the state taxes. For stays near the six-month mark, the lease terms and Rule 12A-1.061(17) decide whether Florida tax is owed, not the platform’s setting.

Airbnb’s page adds one more term. A host who accepts a reservation where Airbnb collects a tax waives any exemption the host believes applies, and should decline the reservation to keep it.

How Florida Hosts helps

We help owners set up the Department of Revenue and county tax accounts their bookings need, along with the DBPR license and any local registration. Our own cleaning and maintenance staff and 24/7 guest communication run the stays themselves. Short-term management is 18–25% of booking revenue, quoted in writing; see pricing or ask for a free rental projection.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Platform tax lists change, so confirm with the platform, your county and the Florida Department of Revenue, or a tax professional.