Short-term rentals in Vail, explained properly.

Section 4-14-3 requires a current, valid license for each STR in the Town. Licenses expire on February 28 each year, or when title transfers to a new owner, whichever comes first. A first application must be filed at least 30 days before any advertising, and a renewal by January 31. The Town offers three license types (individual property owner, professional property manager, and on-site 24/7 front-desk managed) and applications are made on the Town's MuniRevs portal. Property managers acting for STRs in Vail must also hold a Town of Vail business license.

The administrative fee is $260 unless the STR is in a building with on-site management services available at all times, then $50. The Town's page lists the same amounts as the STR registration fee, paid online by ACH or credit card.

The Code requires a signed affidavit under penalty of perjury that the STR is habitable and meets the health and safety standards. The Town's page adds, for an individual owner: the local representative's driver's license, a signed owner authorization form, a notarized self-compliance affidavit, proof of $1,000,000 liability insurance (or the affidavit using an accepted platform's insurance) and a passed fire inspection certificate. Documents must be uploaded in order.

Each application must name a natural person who stays within a 60-minute distance of the STR and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Town must be told at least five days before any change. The representative takes initial complaints and must resolve the issue within 60 minutes, or within 30 minutes between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., including visiting the site if necessary.

Every STR must be continuously insured with minimum limits of $1,000,000, through property liability insurance, commercial liability insurance or an endorsement to a homeowner's policy that covers STR activity. The Town's page says the insurance of an approved online marketplace facilitator can be used with an affidavit; it currently lists Airbnb, VRBO and Evolve.

Each STR outside a building with on-site management at all times must pass a fire and life safety inspection by Vail Fire and Emergency Services as a condition of the license and every three years after. Requests must be made at least 60 days before the initial application and before each three-year period ends. Existing registered STRs were allowed an inspection before January 1, 2026. Inspectors check extinguishers, egress, carbon monoxide detectors, smoke alarms, occupant load, electrical cords and heaters, and address posting. A missed or late-cancelled inspection costs $115 before rescheduling.

If the STR is in a duplex, a copy of a written notice sent by first-class mail to the record owner of the adjoining unit at least seven days before the application must be included. The Town's page also asks for proof of mailing and says this applies to individual-owner and property-manager licenses only.

Chapter 14 sets no limit on the number of STR licenses, no distance between STRs and no requirement that the owner live on the property. It defines "principal place of residence" but this page found no rule that uses the term in the STR chapter. We did not read the zoning use tables or other Titles, so this is not a statement about zoning. Private covenants and HOA or condo rules still apply.

Advertising must show the STR license number immediately after the description. A sign with the license number, local representative contact and address must be posted inside, and a second sign visible from outside gives the representative's contact and the Town's complaint hotline. The second sign is not required in buildings with on-site management at all times.

At all times while occupied, each STR must meet the Code's standards: sound structure, working toilet, sink and tub or shower, enough trash receptacles, labeled electrical panels, pets under Title 6, parking only in designated areas (never on landscaping) and occupancy within Title 12, Chapter 2 (not reviewed here). Portable outdoor fireplaces are prohibited.

Each day of violation is a separate offense. If the Town uses civil enforcement, the fine is $1,500 for a first violation in a 12-month period and $2,650 for a second. A third violation in 12 months, whatever the ownership, brings a three-year suspension with no license for that STR. The Town can also revoke a license after 14 days' written notice and a hearing, and may pursue criminal enforcement. Owners are liable for violations, and a property management firm is jointly liable for the STRs it manages. Violations under the earlier version of the chapter count.

Vail is a home-rule town that collects its own sales tax. The Town Code taxes "lodging services", meaning rooms or accommodations furnished for less than 30 consecutive days, at 4.5%. The STR chapter requires all applicable Town sales and lodging taxes to be collected and remitted. The Town takes returns through its MuniRevs portal; State, Eagle County and RTA taxes are filed at the state's Revenue Online.

Voters approved a 1.4% tax on lodging within the Town in 1999. It is in addition to sales tax and funds events, business recruitment and tourism promotion. The Town says it is filed at the state's Revenue Online on Form DR-1490, and the state's July 2026 lodging report lists the 1.40% Vail district.

The Town's rate table lists State 2.9%, Eagle County 1.0%, Eagle County Transportation 0.5% and the Regional Transportation Authority 0.5%. Colorado charges its state sales tax on rooms and accommodations. The Town's table is dated January 1, 2023 and we did not find a later official table for the county and transportation rates.

Colorado charges its 2.9% state sales tax on the entire amount charged for rooms and accommodations. A stay may also owe local sales taxes that the Colorado Department of Revenue collects for counties and special districts, and any sales tax of a home-rule city that collects its own tax (see below).

State sales tax does not apply to a room or accommodations rented to a person who is a permanent resident of it and has a written agreement to occupy it for at least 30 consecutive days. Shorter stays are taxed.

The Colorado Department of Revenue says anyone who offers rooms or accommodations for rent must get a Colorado sales tax license and collect sales tax on taxable rentals. A seller who makes sales only through a marketplace may be exempt from licensing, collection and filing if the marketplace collects all state and state-administered local sales taxes for them. The license costs $16 (prorated) plus a $50 deposit, a separate license is needed for each business location, and licenses expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years.

For rooms rented through a marketplace (including online platforms), the marketplace facilitator must collect and remit the state sales tax and the local sales taxes the state collects, plus any county lodging tax and local marketing district tax. City taxes in home-rule cities are separate (see below).

The Colorado Department of Revenue does not administer any lodging tax imposed by a city or town, and it does not collect sales tax for home-rule cities that collect their own. Those taxes are licensed, filed and paid with the city.

Colorado counties may add a county lodging tax, regional transportation authorities a visitor benefit tax, and local marketing districts a marketing tax on rooms subject to state sales tax. County lodging and visitor benefit taxes are filed quarterly with the Department of Revenue on form DR 1485; the Department's DR 1003 publication lists the rates.