Short-term rentals in Belleair Beach, explained properly.

Sec. 94-213(a) says that in RL district II an individual portion of a single-family home shall not be rented, leased, or otherwise occupied by a rental agreement with the registered owner(s) on a periodic basis as a separate part of the family unit. The wording applies to RL district II; other districts were not read.

Sec. 94-213(b) says that not more than one family unit shall occupy one dwelling unit at a time. The section appears in the RL district II rental provisions. The code definition of family unit was not read.

Sec. 54-62(c) says a person who violates the section is guilty of a civil infraction subject to a civil penalty and costs as set forth in section 2-317 of the City Code. Section 2-317 was not read, so the penalty amount is not shown. The $100 additional assessment for registering or paying after January 31 is in Sec. 54-62(a).

The Pinellas County Tax Collector's return instructions say to report gross rental receipts from short term rentals (six months or less), subtract exempt receipts, and enter the Tourist Development Tax as 6% of taxable receipts. Returns must be filed monthly unless the collector authorizes less frequent filing, even when there is no rental activity, and the account is delinquent if not filed and paid on or before the 20th day of each month following collection. After the 20th day, the penalty is 10% of the tax, but not less than $50.00, plus interest. The form text we saved is a blank sample for the July to December 2015 reporting period, and the revision date appears only in the file name (January 2025), so this rule needs a check against the current Tax Collector page. We add no combined total with the Florida state tax.

Florida Statutes § 509.032(7)(b) says a local law, ordinance or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate how long or how often they are rented. Local rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011 are exempt from this limit, so some older local rules on rental length can still apply. Section 509.032(7)(a) also reserves the regulation of public lodging establishments (sanitation, inspections and similar matters) to the state, while local governments keep building-code and fire-code inspections. Local governments can still require registration and set other rules that do not ban rentals or limit their length or frequency.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), Division of Hotels and Restaurants, licenses vacation rentals. A license is needed when an entire unit is rented more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or when the unit is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests. Houses, townhouses and buildings of up to four units take a Vacation Rental – Dwelling license; condominium and cooperative units take a Vacation Rental – Condominium license. Renting single rooms rather than the whole unit does not need a DBPR license, though local rules may still apply. Current licenses must be displayed in a conspicuous place on the premises.

New DBPR vacation rental applications pay a $50 application fee, a $10 Hospitality Education Program fee and a license fee. For a single rental unit the full-year license fee is $170 (half-year $90); group licenses for 2 to 25 units are $180 (half-year $95), with higher tiers for more units. Renewals pay the $10 education fee plus the full-year license fee. Renewal and half-year dates depend on the county's DBPR district.

Anyone who rents, leases, lets or grants a license to use transient accommodations must register with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect, report and remit sales tax.

Florida's 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable county discretionary sales surtax, applies to rent paid for living, sleeping or housekeeping accommodations rented for six months or less.

Counties (and certain cities) may add a local option transient rental tax, such as a tourist development tax, on rentals of six months or less, on top of the 6% state sales tax and any surtax. The Department of Revenue's rate table lists each county's rate and who collects it. Most counties administer the tax themselves, and in those counties it is reported and paid directly to the county rather than to the state.