New York short-term rental rules — Local Law 18, NYC registration, and the hosted-only requirement

State-level registration and permitting — Local Law 18 and the NYC hosted-only rule

New York State does not operate a centralized short-term rental permit or registration program — there is no statewide STR license. All registration requirements in New York come from local governments, and nowhere in the state has enacted rules as sweeping as New York City's Local Law 18.

Local Law 18 took effect September 5, 2023, and immediately reshaped the NYC STR market. It requires every host to: (1) register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) — online application, $145 fee; (2) be physically present in the home for the entire duration of all guest stays; (3) limit each booking to a maximum of 2 guests total (not per room); and (4) refrain from installing interior door locks between the host's and guest's spaces. Every listing must display the OSE registration number. To qualify, the host must own the unit or hold a primary lease and must use it as their primary residence — investor-owned non-occupied apartments do not qualify. The result was immediate: Airbnb NYC listings dropped from roughly 22,000 to under 3,000 within weeks of enforcement beginning.

Outside New York City, other municipalities — Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse — have enacted their own local STR ordinances, but none approach the restrictiveness of Local Law 18. In many upstate and suburban areas, STR permitting is minimal or nonexistent. If you host outside the five boroughs, check your specific city or town's municipal code for current requirements.

State-level taxes on New York rental income

New York State imposes a 4% hotel/motel tax on room charges for all accommodations, including short-term rental income. This is a state-level occupancy tax, separate from New York State income tax. All STR hosts with income subject to this tax must register with the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Note that this is distinct from the state's 4% general sales tax — short-term rentals are subject to the hotel/motel tax, not the general sales tax (they are separate levies).

New York State income tax applies to rental income at rates ranging from 4% to 10.9% depending on total income. Rental income is treated as passive (Schedule E) for federal purposes, and New York follows a similar treatment — report on Form IT-201 for state residents. New York City residents owe an additional NYC income tax layer of 3.078%–3.876% on all income, including rental income. NYC hotel taxes (Hotel Room Occupancy Tax and related surcharges) are addressed in the city/county section below.

City and county taxes — NYC hotel taxes and statewide county add-ons

New York City stacks several hotel-related taxes on top of the state rate. For bookings in the five boroughs, the full NYC tax burden on short-term rentals typically runs 14–15% on top of the nightly room rate, composed of: New York State hotel/motel tax (4%), NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax (5.875% on rooms $40/night or more), NYC Hotel Occupancy Surcharge ($1.50/night on rooms $40+), and a NYC Convention Center charge ($2.00/night — verify current rate). However, with the dramatic decline in compliant NYC listings under Local Law 18, the practical relevance of these rates is limited to the small pool of registered hosts who qualify under the law's requirements.

Outside New York City, the 4% state hotel/motel tax applies statewide, and counties layer on their own hotel taxes. Rates vary — generally 3% to 6% depending on the county. Long Island counties (Nassau and Suffolk) have their own hotel tax schedules. Westchester, Albany, and the Hudson Valley also have county hotel taxes. The Catskills and upstate vacation destinations apply county-level taxes; check each county treasurer or finance department for the current rate and any registration requirements before your first booking.

What Airbnb and Vrbo collect automatically in New York

Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit New York State's 4% hotel/motel tax and New York City's hotel taxes for bookings in New York City and many other New York jurisdictions. For compliant NYC hosts — those with a valid OSE registration number on their listing — Airbnb continues to collect and remit all applicable NYC hotel taxes on each booking. Hosts do not receive the tax portion in their payout; Airbnb remits directly to the relevant tax authorities.

Post-Local Law 18, Airbnb requires a valid OSE registration number to list in New York City. If Airbnb has accepted and published your listing, you have effectively confirmed your registration is on file. You must still renew your OSE registration annually (currently $145/year). For markets outside NYC, Airbnb has coverage agreements with many New York counties — verify your specific county's coverage on Airbnb's tax collection help page. Vrbo similarly collects in many NY jurisdictions; check Vrbo's tax collection page for current coverage. For any direct bookings outside the platforms, hotel tax collection and remittance is entirely the host's responsibility.

Filing schedule and where to file

For compliant NYC hosts booking through Airbnb, the platform handles hotel tax collection and remittance automatically. Your primary ongoing obligation is renewing your OSE registration each year (DOSE sends renewal notices by email) and continuing to be present during every guest stay. If you take direct bookings outside Airbnb in NYC — an uncommon scenario given the compliance complexity — you must register as a hotel tax collector with the NYC Department of Finance and file hotel taxes on the required schedule.

For hosts operating outside NYC where hotel tax is the host's responsibility: register with the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance and file Form ST-809 (sales and hotel taxes for short-term rentals). Most active STR hosts file quarterly. State income tax flows from federal Schedule E to Form IT-201 (New York State resident return), filed annually by April 15 (or October 15 with extension). Non-residents with New York rental income file Form IT-203. NYC resident hosts also file NYC's income tax component as part of Form IT-201, not as a separate return.

Penalties for non-compliance

Local Law 18 penalties are structured to deter — and the OSE enforces them actively. First-offense violations carry a $1,000 fine; each subsequent violation increases to $5,000. Critically, every booking that violates the law constitutes a separate violation: a host who conducted 10 unregistered bookings before being caught could face $10,000 or more in fines. Operating without an OSE registration results in an immediate cease-and-desist order. Continuing to operate after such an order means each additional booking is an independent violation. Hosts who allow more than 2 guests per booking or who leave the property during a guest's stay face the same penalty schedule per occurrence.

On the tax side, failure to collect or remit New York hotel taxes triggers back taxes plus a 25% penalty plus interest from the original due date. For NYC hotel taxes specifically, the NYC Department of Finance can pursue collection directly from the host. Airbnb shares listing and booking data with NYC OSE under a formal data-sharing agreement — the city can and does cross-reference this data to identify non-compliant hosts and platforms that allow unregistered listings.

Recent rule changes — 2024–2026

Local Law 18's effective date of September 5, 2023 marked the defining moment for NYC STR. Within days of enforcement beginning, Airbnb NYC listings dropped from roughly 22,000 to under 3,000. By September 2023, fewer than 900 hosts had received valid OSE registrations at launch — the registration system opened for applications mid-2023 but processing was slow, creating immediate supply compression that drove NYC hotel rates sharply higher. Several legal challenges to Local Law 18 were mounted in 2023 and 2024; as of 2025, all have been dismissed or ruled against the plaintiffs, and the law remains fully in force.

Airbnb signed a data-sharing agreement with NYC that requires it to provide listing data to OSE upon request, with platform-level fines for violations of the agreement. OSE has continued active enforcement through 2024 and 2025, investigating complaints from neighbors, housing advocates, and the hotel industry. No significant legislation to reverse or substantially modify Local Law 18 has passed as of early 2026. Outside NYC, several Catskills and Hudson Valley municipalities added or tightened STR registration requirements between 2023 and 2025 in response to housing affordability pressures — though none approach the restrictiveness of the city's law.

Frequently asked questions