Surfside Beach, SC vacation rental requirements

Get a retail license for direct bookings

If you take bookings yourself, you need a SCDOR retail license for each rental property and must file and pay electronically through MyDORWAY. If you rent only through a property manager or an online travel company that takes the payment, they remit the state tax and you don’t need a license. Rent no more than one week a quarter and you can file once a year instead.Source

MyDORWAY →

Know what the platform collects

Airbnb collects the 5% sales tax, 2% accommodations tax, and the local sales taxes the state collects, on its bookings. It also collects some county and city accommodations taxes, but only in the places it lists. Everything else is yours to file.Source

Register for local taxes

Many counties and cities charge their own accommodations tax (up to 3%), a hospitality tax, or a beach preservation fee. They collect these directly, so you register with the county or city even if a platform pays your state tax.Source

Check your property tax rate

A home that is your legal residence keeps the 4% assessment ratio only if it is rented out 72 days or less a year. Rent it more and it is taxed as a 6% rental property. Ask your county assessor.Source

Then your county and city

Business licenses, rental permits, and zoning are where South Carolina towns differ most. Pick your area.

Register for the county hospitality fee

Short-term rentals anywhere in the county owe the county’s Hospitality Fee/Local Accommodations Tax: 3% of rent outside city limits, 1.5% inside Atlantic Beach, Aynor, Conway, Loris, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach. File monthly with the Horry County Treasurer by the 20th. If a property manager handles your bookings, make sure they’re remitting it.Source

Then your city or area

Business licenses, zoning and city taxes differ in every town. Pick your area.

Check your zoning district

The zoning code we read permits transient rentals (rented for less than a month or 30 days) only in the R3 and C3 districts. Ask the town to confirm the district and rule for your address before you list.Source

Get a town business license

Apply with the Business License Office at Town Hall, 210 U.S. Highway 17 South; allow 7 to 10 business days.Source

Register for state and local taxes

The state-collected tax on stays here is 9% (state sales and accommodations tax plus local sales taxes). Airbnb collects it on its bookings; for direct bookings, get a SCDOR retail license and file through MyDORWAY. File the town’s 1% hospitality fee and 0.5% local accommodations tax with the Surfside Beach Hospitality Office by the 20th (quarterly or yearly if your tax is small), and the 1.5% county hospitality fee with Horry County. Airbnb lists the town’s 0.5% and the county fee among the taxes it collects, but not the 1% hospitality fee, so ask the town whether you must file that yourself.Source