Short-term rentals in Harrisonburg, explained properly.

The City's page says that to operate a homestay or short-term rental in the City operators must also obtain a business license from the Commissioner of the Revenue and register for transient occupancy and state sales tax with the Virginia Department of Taxation, and that a business license for an STR operation cannot be obtained until a special use permit is approved by City Council. It notes that some online services collect and remit state sales tax for bookings made through them and that failure to remit is the operator's responsibility. The City Code business license chapter was not fetched, so the license fee and code authority are not covered here.

Sec. 10-3-205(4) applies to every homestay and short-term rental. The City's page says registration and special use permit approval apply only to rentals of fewer than 30 consecutive days and that rentals of 30 or more days remain subject to the zoning occupancy regulations for tenants living in a unit for more than one month in succession.

Sec. 10-3-205(7)(a) sets the cap for homestays. The cap is not in the short-term rental subsection (6). The City's page says a short-term rental under a special use permit has no limit on nights per year unless the permit conditions one.

Sec. 10-3-205(7)(b) sets the limit for homestays. The City's page says a short-term rental under a special use permit has no maximum number of guests unless the permit conditions one.

Sec. 10-3-205(7)(c) bars marketing or using a homestay for weddings, receptions or other events. Sec. 10-3-205(6)(a) bars marketing and using a short-term rental for weddings, receptions or events unless approved, and as may be conditioned, during the special use permit process. The City's page says event use must be requested and described in the permit application, and that events may require renovations to meet Building Code requirements.

Sec. 10-3-205(5) applies to every homestay and short-term rental. The City's page adds that a Virginia Department of Health Lodging Permit may be required and that food service may be subject to the City's Food and Beverage Tax (7.0% on prepared food and beverage sales per the City's business taxes page); questions go to the Commissioner of the Revenue at 540-432-7795.

This comes from the City's page; the zoning parking chapter was not fetched. The page says that during the permit process an applicant may request fewer spaces or no delineated spaces, and that City Council may require additional spaces. Operators are encouraged to direct guests to park on the property or directly in front of it, and to confirm any homeowners association or property manager guest-parking rules.

The City's page states the special use permit application fee. The page does not tie the fee to a dated fee schedule, so the fee needs review before it is relied on. The permit application also needs a completed questionnaire, a site or property map and a letter explaining the proposed use.

Sec. 10-3-13(2) sets these civil penalties for operating a short-term rental or homestay in violation of the Zoning Ordinance, as reproduced in the City's registration form. Each day of a violation is a separate offense, but a violation arising from the same facts may not be charged more often than once in any ten-day period. Other violations of the zoning chapter are a class 1 misdemeanor unless designated a civil penalty (Sec. 10-3-13(1)). The text here is the City's excerpt in the registration form; the code section itself was not fetched.

Code of Virginia § 15.2-983 defines a short-term rental as a room or space offered for dwelling, sleeping or lodging for fewer than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a charge. Any locality may, by ordinance, set up a short-term rental registry and require operators to register every year. Registration is ministerial: the operator's name, the address of each property offered, and, if the operator is a lessee or sublessee, an attestation that the owner has given permission. A locality may charge a reasonable fee tied to the cost of the registry. People licensed by the Real Estate Board (or owners represented by a real estate licensee), time-share registrants, places licensed by the Department of Health and businesses licensed by the locality for rental or property management (such as hotels and bed and breakfasts) cannot be required to register. A registry ordinance may set a penalty of up to $500 per violation for offering an unregistered property, and may bar an operator from offering a property after repeated registry violations or after violations of state and local short-term rental laws on more than three occasions. No local ordinance may prohibit an operator from offering a property solely because the operator is a lessee or sublessee, if the owner has given permission; a locality may limit a lessee or sublessee to one short-term rental. No local ordinance enacted after December 31, 2023 may require a special exception, special use or conditional use permit for a short-term rental in a dwelling that the owner also legally occupies as a primary residence. Otherwise, localities keep their general land use and zoning authority over short-term rentals, and the statute does not override recorded covenants, condominium instruments or property owners' association declarations. The section was last amended in 2024 (Acts of Assembly 2024, chapters 700 and 792).

Virginia's retail sales tax applies to accommodations, which the Retail Sales and Use Tax Act defines to include short-term rentals as well as hotels, motels, inns and similar places. A taxable retail sale includes charges for accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days. The Department of Taxation says the tax applies to the total charge for the accommodation, and that fees charged by booking agents and other companies that handle reservations are also taxable; under the statute the room charge includes any fee retained for facilitating the sale.

The Virginia Department of Taxation lists the general sales tax rate by location: 7% in James City County, Williamsburg and York County; 6.3% in Charlotte County, Danville, Gloucester County, Halifax County, Henry County, Northampton County, Patrick County and Pittsylvania County; 6% in the Central Virginia region (Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and Richmond City), Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia; and 5.3% everywhere else. The page lists different rates only for groceries and for aircraft, watercraft and motor vehicles. Rates are set by the locality where the sale is made. Local lodging or transient occupancy taxes charged by cities and counties are separate and are listed on each city page.

The Department of Taxation says the tax is collected by either the accommodations provider or the accommodations intermediary, depending on how the stay was booked. Online travel companies, travel agents and similar businesses that facilitate bookings are accommodations intermediaries. When a short-term rental is booked through an intermediary, the intermediary collects the tax on the total charge, including its own fees, and reports the sales tax on the entire transaction on its Virginia sales tax return.

When a reservation is made directly with the accommodations provider, the Department of Taxation says the provider collects the tax on the total charge for the lodging and reports it on its Virginia sales tax return. Sellers whose sales go through a marketplace facilitator's platform generally do not need to collect sales tax on those sales, but may still need to register to collect it on their own sales outside the platform; registering gives you a sales tax account number and a Certificate of Registration (Form ST-4).