Short-term rentals in Gulf Shores, explained properly.

The City's Rental License page says the Rental License Application is in the Licensing section of the City's online licensing and permitting portal, or a paper Business License Application for Rental Property can be sent to City of Gulf Shores Revenue, 1905 W 1st St, PO Box 4089, Gulf Shores, AL 36547. All fields are required, and the application needs a copy of the driver's license and the items on the Rental Property License Checklist. The review route is: Revenue checks the application for completeness, Planning and Zoning reviews zoning compliance, the Fire Marshal performs a safety inspection if applicable, and Revenue collects payment and issues the certificate.

The City's Rental License page says business licenses expire December 31, renewals are due January 1 and are delinquent after January 31. Section 6-18(C) of the Zoning Ordinance says a vacation rental business license is valid for a period set by the Revenue Division of no more than one year, may be revoked by the Revenue Division for noncompliance with the section, and Revenue Division decisions may be appealed to the City Council. The owner must give a copy of the license to the rental agency, and the owner and agency must show it when the City asks.

The City's Rental License page lists the fee as based on gross receipts under Fee Schedule A, plus a $45 rental fee for short-term rentals only. Ordinance 2168 (July 28, 2025) set this as an additional $45 business license fee per year for each dwelling unit offered as a vacation rental, plus a $500 fine before renewal for each unit not in compliance with the rental inspection rules. The City's business license article was rewritten by Ordinance 2186 on December 1, 2025, and the code as published online no longer shows those vacation rental sections, so confirm the current fee with the Revenue Division.

The City's Rental License page lists a rental safety inspection every 3 years as an additional requirement, and its review route includes a Fire Marshal safety inspection if applicable. Ordinance 2168 (July 28, 2025) required a current rental unit inspection report from the Building Official (or a certificate of occupancy) before a vacation rental license is issued or renewed, counting a report as current if dated within five years before the license year. Because Ordinance 2186 later rewrote the business license article and the published code no longer shows these sections, the interval in force is not clear from the code; ask the Building Department.

The City's Rental License page lists designation and maintenance of a local emergency contact by the licensee as an additional requirement and links a Local Emergency Contact Information Form. The code section it links (former section 8-41) is no longer shown in the published code after Ordinance 2186 rewrote the business license article, so the contact's duties (such as response time) are not stated here; ask the Revenue Division.

The Zoning Ordinance defines a vacation rental dwelling unit as any dwelling unit offered for occupancy by lease, sublease, rental or other licensing by an owner or lessor for any period of fewer than 180 consecutive days. Section 6-18 says rentals longer than that are treated as long-term rentals and are exempt from its rules.

Section 6-18(D) says occupancy of a vacation rental dwelling unit by more than one family, as defined in the Zoning Ordinance, for longer than 30 consecutive days is a violation and prohibited.

Section 6-18(E) allows parking on driveways or in a parking lot designed for it. Parking, maneuvering areas and driveways must have a surface approved by the Public Works Director; gravel, rock or similar material not similar in color to beach sand is prohibited. Parking in public street rights-of-way is prohibited and enforced under Chapter 21 of the City Code.

Section 6-18(F) requires each vacation rental to display its address number so it is clearly visible from the right-of-way (characters no taller than 8 inches, in a line no longer than 36 inches; units more than 50 feet back use a mailbox or post). One identification sign up to 6 square feet (including rider signs) mounted flat on the front facade and one name plate sign up to 4 square feet are allowed, neither directly illuminated. Gulf-front units may have one small fence or detached sign (up to 1.5 square feet) on each side. Other fence and detached signs visible from the right-of-way, snipe signs, window signs visible from the right-of-way and signs in the right-of-way are prohibited, except a temporary real estate sign when the property is for sale. Signs must be permitted, except the real estate sign. A violation is grounds to deny, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew the business license.

Section 8-201 of the City Code levies a lodging tax on renting rooms, lodgings or accommodations to transients in the city, including any place in which accommodations are regularly furnished to transients, at 10% of gross proceeds for transactions on or after September 1, 2023. Section 8-202 levies half that rate (5%) outside the corporate limits but within the City's police jurisdiction. Neither applies to accommodations supplied for 180 continuous days or more. The City's Lodging Tax page says the tax is due on short-term condo, house and duplex rentals, and that the business collects and remits it as the City's agent. Vacation rentals are subject to the lodging and resort taxes normally levied in the City under section 6-18(C) of the Zoning Ordinance.

Section 8-205 makes the tax due monthly on or before the 20th of the month after it accrues, with a return on the City's form; quarterly or annual returns are possible when the City specially authorizes them for small amounts. The City's Lodging Tax page says returns are due by the 20th for the prior month even if no tax was collected, late filing or payment brings a penalty plus interest, and returns can be filed through My Alabama Taxes. If a management company is used, the owner should make sure it is collecting and remitting the tax; an owner who leaves a management company's program becomes responsible for collecting and remitting state, county and City lodging taxes.

The City of Gulf Shores' Lodging Tax page lists a 2% Baldwin County lodging tax among the lodging taxes due on rentals in the city. Baldwin County's own lodging tax page could not be read, so the county's rules (who collects it and how it is filed) are not stated here; check with the Baldwin County Sales and Use Tax Department.

Section 40-26-1 of the Code of Alabama levies a privilege or license tax on every person in the business of renting or furnishing rooms, lodging or accommodations to transients in any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin or any other place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration. The rate is 5% of the charge in the 16 counties of the Alabama mountain lakes area (Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston) and 4% in every other county, and the charge includes any charge for personal property and services furnished in the room. The tax does not apply to rooms, lodgings or accommodations supplied for 180 continuous days or more. The Alabama Department of Revenue says lodgings tax is collected through an account at My Alabama Taxes, and that counties and cities may add their own lodgings taxes of between 1% and 13%, some collected by the Department, some by third-party administrators and some by the local government itself. Local lodgings taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 40-26-1.1 of the Code of Alabama (the Alabama Tourism Tax Protection Act of 2024, Act 2024-334) says an accommodations intermediary, meaning a business other than the owner that facilitates a lodging transaction and charges the guest a room or accommodations fee it keeps as compensation, must collect and remit the state lodgings tax and parallel local levies for transactions on or after January 1, 2025. The tax is charged on the room charge, the full retail price the guest pays including any fees. When the intermediary handles the booking for an accommodations provider (an owner with an active lodgings tax account who collects and remits the tax), the tax collected may be remitted to the provider if an executed written agreement says who remits it, and the intermediary is then not liable for tax the provider fails to remit. The intermediary must state the tax separately on the bill. Where the owner has hired a licensed professional property management company, that company is the merchant of record. The Department of Revenue's notice describes the same rules. Which local lodgings taxes a platform collects in a given place is not stated in these sources; check with the platform and the local tax office.

Section 40-26-1.1(g) requires every accommodations intermediary and accommodations provider to submit an annual report, in a form set by the Department of Revenue, listing the physical address of each accommodation rented or furnished for more than 14 days during the previous year; the report is confidential taxpayer information. Exempt are licensed professional property management companies that collect and remit the state lodgings tax (or manage homes leased for a month or more as the tenant's principal residence), hotels that collect and remit the tax, tourism marketing organizations funded by the tax, and marina, tent camping and RV providers that collect and remit it. The Department of Revenue's notice describes the same reporting rule and exemptions.