Volusia County short-term rental rules: a city-by-city guide for hosts

A Volusia County vacation rental usually needs a state license, state and county tax accounts, and local zoning approval, and a problem at any layer can end a listing.

• State: a DBPR vacation rental license and a Florida Department of Revenue sales tax registration.
• County: a Volusia tourist development tax account and, outside city limits, county zoning.
• City: zoning, business tax receipts, and in some places a rental permit with inspections.
• Your association: condo and HOA documents can add their own rental minimums.

You need a DBPR vacation rental license if you rent an entire unit more than three times in a calendar year for less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or if you advertise it as regularly rented to guests.

DBPR's Division of Hotels and Restaurants issues it in two classes: Vacation Rental – Condominium for condo and co-op units, and Vacation Rental – Dwelling for houses, townhouses, and buildings of four or fewer units. Online applications usually process in one to two business days. Beyond a $50 application fee and a $10 education fee, the license fee varies by district and unit count, so check DBPR's current schedule. Inspections cover fire safety items such as smoke alarms.

Stays of six months or less in Volusia County carry 12.5% in tax: a 6% tourist development tax paid to the county and 6.5% in state sales tax and surtax paid to the Florida Department of Revenue.

• Register with the state first, then open a county account with the County of Volusia Treasury and Billing Division, which runs the tax (not the Tax Collector). Once registered with the state, you file returns even when you owe nothing.
• County returns are due by the 20th of the month after you collect, or quarterly if you collect less than $1,000 a year.
• Cleaning fees are taxable, like any mandatory fee. Our cleaning fee guide shows the effect on guest pricing.
• Platforms collect some of it. The county says Airbnb and VRBO collect its tax on their bookings and other platforms don't. Airbnb also collects state tax on Florida stays of 182 nights or less.

The county doesn't say whether a host who books only through Airbnb or VRBO still needs an active account, and Airbnb says hosts stay responsible for other obligations, so ask Treasury and Billing and the Department of Revenue. Rent under a written lease of more than six months is exempt from the state tax.

Florida law bars local governments from banning vacation rentals or regulating how long or how often they are rented, unless the rule was adopted on or before June 1, 2011, so older local restrictions still apply.

That grandfather clause, in section 509.032 of the Florida Statutes, explains Volusia's patchwork. Local governments can still require business tax receipts, registration, and inspections. And the thresholds differ: DBPR's license trigger is under 30 days or one calendar month, while zoning uses its own lines, so a stay can clear one rule and not another.

Each coastal city handles short stays differently, and the answer usually depends on your parcel's zoning district, so use this as a map for your questions, not as a permit.

Unincorporated Volusia, including Ormond-by-the-Sea

County zoning allows rentals of less than 30 days only where hotels or motels are permitted, not in single-family residential zoning, and a court upheld that rule. Ormond-by-the-Sea is unincorporated, so rentals there follow it.

Daytona Beach

The city's rental program covers rentals of six months and a day or longer and sends owners who want shorter terms to the Business Tax Office, since zoning may restrict them. A Florida Attorney General opinion found the city couldn't use a proposed beachside zoning overlay to open more areas. Confirm your parcel before listing in Daytona Beach.

Daytona Beach Shores

The city requires a business tax receipt for any business located there. We found no rental-specific page, so ask the Business Tax Receipt Division what applies to your unit in Daytona Beach Shores.

Ormond Beach

Transient lodging, meaning a lease of less than six months, isn't allowed in any residential district. It is permitted in the B-4, B-6, and B-7 commercial districts with a local business tax and site plan review. That matters for Ormond Beach snowbird rentals; see our snowbird season guide.

New Smyrna Beach

Stays under 30 days are allowed only in listed districts: R-3A east of Atlantic Avenue, R-4, R-5, R-6, B-4, M-U, and BBH east of the Intracoastal, plus R-2A south of Third Avenue, and M-U and BBH west of it. Stays of 30 days or more are allowed citywide with a business tax receipt, which requires an initial inspection. More on New Smyrna Beach.

Port Orange

We found no published short-term rental rule on the city's website, and we won't repeat third-party summaries we couldn't verify. Ask the city's zoning staff about your parcel before listing in Port Orange.

Ponce Inlet

Any rental needs a town rental permit, renewed each year, with inspections. Short-term means under 28 consecutive days, single-family homes can't be rented short-term, and short stays are limited to condo buildings the town names on South Atlantic Avenue: South Point, Towers 1 through 6, Lighthouse Shores, Antigua, and Martinique. Our Ponce Inlet service area.

Confirm zoning for your exact parcel first, then license and register, because the zoning answer decides whether the rest is worth doing.

1. Ask the city, or the county outside city limits, in writing what your zoning allows.
2. Read your condo or HOA documents for rental minimums.
3. Get the DBPR license if your stays will trigger it.
4. Register with the Department of Revenue, then open your county tourist tax account.
5. Get any city business tax receipt or rental permit, and book the inspections.
6. Recheck every year; the review date is at the top of this guide.

Inspection coming up? Our emergency and same-day service includes pre-inspection cleans.