San Antonio, TX vacation rental requirements

Know who pays the hotel tax

Airbnb collects and pays the 6% state hotel tax on its bookings. If guests pay you directly or through a site that doesn’t collect, register with the Comptroller and file the state tax yourself.Source

Texas hotel occupancy tax →

Register for local hotel tax

Your city (and in some places your county) charges its own hotel tax, filed with that city or county, not the state. Airbnb pays it only in the places on its list; everywhere else you register and file it yourself, even for Airbnb bookings.Source

Check your city’s rules

Many Texas cities require a short-term rental permit or registration, and some require an inspection, a local contact, or posted rules. Outside city limits there’s usually no permit, but deed restrictions and HOA rules often limit rentals. Pick your area for the local rules.Source

Then your city

Texas counties can’t zone, so rental rules come from the city your home is in. Outside city limits there’s usually no permit, but deed restrictions and HOA rules may limit rentals. Pick your city.Source

Outside San Antonio

Ask the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector whether the county venue tax applies at your address and how to file it. Leon Valley’s 7% city tax is on Airbnb’s collection list.Source

Check the cap for Type 2

If you won’t live in the home, it’s Type 2: only 12.5% of the homes on your blockface can hold one (for example, one on a block of 14). Over the cap, you’d need a Board of Adjustment special exception, applied for within 45 days. Type 2 rentals can’t be in accessory dwelling units.Source

Prepare the application

Gather proof of occupancy for Type 1 (homestead exemption, driver’s license, vehicle or voter registration), the Bexar Appraisal District property ID, a 24-hour phone number for the operator, a sketch or photos of the floor plan, and a sketch or description of your off-street parking.Source

Apply in BuildSA

Apply through the city’s STR permits page, pay the $100 filing fee and the permit fee, and put the permit number on every listing. Platforms take down listings without a valid number when the city asks.Source

San Antonio STR permits →

Hotel taxes on each stay

Stays of 29 nights or less owe the 6% state hotel tax, which Airbnb collects on its bookings. If guests pay you directly, file it with the Texas Comptroller. San Antonio’s 9% city tax and Bexar County’s 2% are filed monthly with the city at hoteltaxonline.com, by the last day of the next month, even in zero months. Airbnb collects the 9% city tax; report what you collect on direct bookings and ask the city how platform bookings are reported.Source