Short-term rentals in South Salt Lake, explained properly.

Sec. 4.05.070 sets these maximums for renter occupancy; the maximum does not include the owner or persons related to the owner, and the business license states the maximum occupancy allowed. The property may not be rented to more than one renter at a time, and the owner may not divide and rent portions of the dwelling to multiple renters at once. If occupancy requirements are exceeded after a complaint and physical inspection, a red tag may be issued (Sec. 4.05.060(F)). Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

Sec. 4.05.080(A)(4) requires off-street parking and access to it to be kept available at all times; parking for the STR is incremental to the primary dwelling's requirement and includes a minimum of one space for each five occupants allowed. The application includes a site plan showing the required spaces (Sec. 4.05.040(C)). Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

The application names a person available by telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, who can respond to the site within 30 minutes (Sec. 4.05.040(G)). Sec. 4.05.080(C) makes the resident owner personally liable for failure to manage the STR properly and requires the owner or agent to be available by telephone or otherwise at all hours and to respond to inquiries within thirty minutes. Renters must adhere to county noise regulations (Sec. 4.05.080(A)(2)). Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

Sec. 4.05.090 requires one durable, weather-resistant nameplate sign permanently attached to the exterior or in a conspicuous site location, showing the contact name and phone number, occupant load, license number and maximum occupancy, with no advertising. The City-issued license is posted inside near the main entrance with parking requirements, county noise regulations, garbage pick-up dates, license number, maximum occupancy, the registered agent's contact information and police and fire contact information. Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

Sec. 4.05.080(A)(5) requires any STR in South Salt Lake City to include a set statement, with its business license number, in any online advertisement. Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

Sec. 4.05.080(D) requires the licensee to hold a sales tax collection and accounting number for the rental operation, listed on the license application, and to pay all applicable taxes, charges and fees, including the transient room tax, in full during the period of licensure. At renewal the applicant provides proof of required property and sales tax remittance (Sec. 4.05.040(J)(m)). See the inherited Utah tax fields for the transient room tax. Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

Sec. 4.05.080(E) limits issuance to one STR business license per property. Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from this section (Sec. 4.05.150).

Sec. 4.05.030 prohibits STRs in any Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). Licences held before February 14, 2025 are exempt from Sec. 4.05.030 (Sec. 4.05.150(A)), and every standard must be met after a sale or transfer of ownership of the property (Sec. 4.05.150(B)).

Sec. 4.05.150 exempts STRs licensed before February 14, 2025 from the R1 and MPMU restrictions, occupancy requirements, maintenance and other requirements, and notice and posting requirements. Sec. 4.05.130 refers non-conforming use and non-complying STR questions to Code Chapter 17.09.

Sec. 4.05.110 requires hosting platforms, subject to applicable laws, to disclose to the City semiannually each listing in the City, the responsible persons, address, length of stay and price paid, and bars a platform from completing a booking transaction for a property that is not licensed when it receives its fee. The section is read in line with state and federal law and is inapplicable where the City determines it is preempted. The inherited Utah law field on listing websites also applies.

Sec. 4.05.120 treats each day of violation, or of unpaid applicable taxes and fees, as a separate violation for enforcement.

Sec. 4.05.050 allows a granted STR license to be suspended or revoked for any violation of the chapter or any reason stated in applicable laws, and sends appeals of a denial, suspension or revocation to the procedures in Code Chapter 5.02. Failure to respond or comply with inspection requirements is grounds for denial, suspension or revocation (Sec. 4.05.060(B)).

Utah Code section 10-8-85.4 defines a short-term rental as a residential unit, or part of one, offered for occupancy for fewer than 30 consecutive days. A city may require the owner or lessee to get a business license or other permit before operating a short-term rental. A city may not prohibit listing or offering a short-term rental on a booking website, and may not fine or prosecute someone solely for listing one; it may use a listing as evidence that a rental took place if it has additional information showing a violation. Cities may not regulate booking websites, but a city that allows short-term rentals in some or all residential or commercial zones may ask a website to remove a listing that violates its business license or zoning requirements, identifying the listing's URL and the reason. A city that charges transient room tax may give listings to the county auditor as evidence that the tax may be owed. The section was last amended in the 2025 First Special Session (effective November 6, 2025).

The Utah State Tax Commission says amounts paid for temporary lodging (a hotel, motel, inn, tourist home or similar accommodation for less than 30 consecutive days) are subject to both sales tax and transient room tax. Stays of 30 consecutive days or longer are exempt from both. Charges such as cleaning fees are taxable for both sales tax and transient room tax. Sales tax is reported on form TC-62M or TC-62S and transient room tax on TC-62T.

The Utah State Tax Commission lists the state sales and use tax rate as 4.85%. Local sales taxes are added on top and vary by city and county; the Tax Commission publishes the combined rate for each location in quarterly rate charts at tax.utah.gov/sales/rates. Lodging is taxed at the rate for the rental's location, not the owner's mailing address.

Transient room tax is charged on stays of less than 30 consecutive days, in addition to sales and other applicable taxes. The Tax Commission says the rate for a location may combine: a 1.07% statewide transient room tax; an extra 0.25% state transient room tax in Salt Lake County; a county-wide transient room tax (up to 4.5% in counties other than Salt Lake County; Salt Lake County imposes 4.25% plus a 0.5% tourism transient room tax); and a city or town transient room tax of up to 1% (with an additional amount allowed for cities that meet certain requirements). Check the Tax Commission's current rate chart for the exact rate at a location.

The Tax Commission says every seller with an established presence in Utah must have a Utah sales tax license, and lists accommodations of less than 30 consecutive days among the businesses that typically must register. You apply online through the Taxpayer Access Point (tap.utah.gov). Sellers whose sales all go through a marketplace facilitator do not need a license for those facilitated sales unless they also make sales outside the marketplace.

Under Utah's marketplace rules, a marketplace facilitator is treated as the seller of what it facilitates and must collect sales tax and all sales-related taxes, including transient room tax. Sellers cannot opt out of having the facilitator collect, and are not liable for taxes the facilitator must collect. A host with a Utah sales tax license still files returns but does not report sales made through a marketplace.