Short-term rentals in Kansas City, explained properly.

Section 56-803(2) requires: the unit's street address and, in a multi-unit building, the number of units; the registrant's and any other owner's identification (for a company owner, a named officer, partner, member or trustee); proof of the registrant's right to possess the unit and, for a non-owner, the owner's notarized consent; a tax clearance letter from the City's Revenue Division for the registrant and owner; certification of the safety, legal and tax requirements (Operating rules, below); an explanation of any past deregistration or ban elsewhere; proof that violations behind any earlier City deregistration were fixed; and a notarized affidavit that the information is accurate. A non-resident registrant must also file a notarized affidavit that they are the natural person with management control and responsibility for the unit and will personally inspect its interior and exterior at least once a month, and must hold a business license under Chapter 40 to operate a short-term rental in the unit. The City says to set up a short-term rental tax account in QuickTax for each property first, then obtain the tax clearance letter, and that an inspection is scheduled.

Sections 56-803(1) and 56-812(b)(1) set the fees and let the director adjust them annually by the Kansas City consumer price index, provided increases reflect the cost of the services; if processing costs fall below the fee, the fee must be reduced. The City's page says fees are issued when a re-registration application is ready to be approved.

Under section 56-803(7) each registration expires at the end of its 12-month registration period and renewal must meet all current requirements; renewals are accepted from 30 days before the end of the period. The City says a re-registration is a new application with another inspection, and that the affidavits, tax clearance letter and any utility bills must be dated within 30 days of the application. A change of ownership or of the registrant ends the registration (section 56-806(a)); other changes to the registration information must be reported in writing within 30 days (section 56-806(b)).

Section 56-812 lets the director designate a major event of up to 90 days when existing lodging, including registered short-term rentals, likely cannot meet an anticipated surge in demand, and publicize the dates. A major event registration needs the same documents as an annual registration (except the resident and non-resident items, which apply as follows): a resident rental must meet the primary residence rule and the one-per-parcel limit; a non-resident rental must meet the business license and management affidavit requirements, the zoning and density rules, the City incentive bar and the one-per-parcel limit, except grandfathered Type 2 rentals. The registration states its start and end dates, at most 90 days or the end of the event. The City's page says it was not considering temporary or event-specific allowances for the FIFA 2026 World Cup and that all eligibility requirements still applied.

Section 56-807(c).

Under section 56-807(d), a booking service provider violates the article by receiving payment for an unregistered short-term rental in the city; absence from the City's public list of registered rentals is prima facie evidence that a rental is not registered, with a two-day grace period after a removal. Under section 56-808(b), booking service providers must keep, and provide on request, five years of records of the host's name, the address, booking dates, the price paid, the registration number and complaints. The City keeps a public list of registered short-term rentals (section 56-808(c)) and shows them on Parcel Viewer.

Sections 56-809 and 56-810 set the penalties; the City may also seek legal or injunctive relief in court. Under section 56-804, a resident rental whose registrant stops living there may be deregistered; a rental is removed and barred from registering for one year if violations of City, state or federal law in its operation impaired public health and safety or the welfare of the area, and for three years if there were three or more violations and the operation poses a present and pervasive threat, weighing factors such as the nature of the violations, effects on others, the owner's response, nearness to homes, parks, churches, schools and playgrounds, harassment and street congestion. Denials, non-renewals and deregistrations can be appealed to the City's Property Maintenance Appeals Board (section 56-805).

Section 56-803(2)h.7 (a condition the registrant certifies and must keep, section 56-807(e)).

Section 56-803(2)h.8 and 9.

Section 56-803(2)h.1 and 3 to 6, and h.10 (inspection for fire, public safety, health and code compliance, and inspection of the claimed primary residence).

Section 56-808(a).

Section 68-586 imposes a 7.5% transient boarding and accommodation tax on all sales or charges of sleeping rooms paid by transient guests of short-term rental units not otherwise subject to the City's convention and tourism tax (section 68-551), effective August 1, 2023 (section 68-587). For this tax a short-term rental unit is a dwelling unit or part of one with eight or fewer rooms held out for stays of 30 or fewer consecutive days (section 68-585). The Finance Department says the tax is on the full price the guest pays, without deducting platform fees, and that there is also an occupancy fee of $3.00 per room night; the Code section for the $3.00 fee was not read. State sales tax is shown separately below; no combined total is given.

Under section 68-597 the tax is paid quarterly to the Commissioner of Revenue, and the operator must remit any tax not collected and remitted by a booking service provider. Under section 68-593(d), when a booking service provider is responsible for collecting and remitting the tax for an operator, the operator is not responsible for the tax the provider collected. The tax must be stated separately on the guest's bill and may not be advertised as absorbed (section 68-593(a), (b)); a 2% allowance may be kept for timely remittance (section 68-592(b)). The Finance Department says Form RD-306 covers both the 7.5% tax and the $3.00 fee, must be filed electronically each quarter even if a platform collected the tax or nothing is due, that each location needs its own account (Form RD-100), and that operators also file an annual profits earnings tax return (Form RD-108). A tax clearance letter is required at registration and each renewal (section 68-590).

Section 144.020.1(6) of the Revised Statutes of Missouri imposes a tax equivalent to four percent on the amount of sales or charges for all rooms, meals and drinks furnished at any hotel, motel, tavern, inn, restaurant, eating house, drugstore, dining car, tourist cabin, tourist camp or other place in which rooms, meals or drinks are regularly served to the public. The Department of Revenue says the state sales and use tax is 4.225 percent in total, split among General Revenue (3.0 percent), Education (1.0 percent), Conservation (0.125 percent) and Parks/Soils (0.10 percent), and that cities, counties and special taxing districts may add their own sales taxes. The sources read do not say whether, or when, a privately owned home rented for short stays counts as a place in which rooms are regularly served to the public; check with the Department of Revenue. City and county taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 144.752, in effect since January 1, 2023, requires marketplace facilitators that do business in Missouri to register with the Department of Revenue to collect and remit use tax on sales made through their marketplaces that are delivered into the state. The section's definition of a marketplace facilitator does not include a person with respect to the provision of travel agency services, which it defines as facilitating, for a commission, fee or other consideration, travel packages, travel reservations, tickets, or hotel or other lodging accommodations. The Department of Revenue pages read do not say whether booking platforms collect state sales tax on short-term rental stays; check with the platform and the Department of Revenue. City rules on platform collection of city taxes are shown on each place's page.

A word search of the Revised Statutes of Missouri found no section regulating the short-term rental of homes, so local rules apply. In the 2026 Regular Session, House Bill 1768 (combined with HB 2060), which modifies provisions relating to the classification of certain residential real property used for short-term rentals, was sent to the Senate, which adopted its own substitute; its last action, on May 15, 2026, was referral to the House Fiscal Review Committee, and the House bill page shows it was not truly agreed to and finally passed. In the 2025 Regular Session, House Bill 1086 on the same subject was last voted do pass by a Senate committee on May 1, 2025. A similar bill could be filed in a later session.