New York Short-Term Rental Laws (2026): State Rules, City Limits and Taxes

Short-term rentals are legal in New York State, taxed statewide since 2025 and registered county by county, with New York City running the strictest program in the country under its own Local Law 18. The 2024 bill that would have created a single state registry at the Department of State was rewritten before it took effect: Chapter 99 of the Laws of 2025 turned it into a county-based system in which every county either runs a registry or opts out by local law, while booking platforms collect the state and local sales tax on every stay regardless.

This guide is for hosts in the five boroughs, the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks who need the state law, the county decisions and the city rules in one place, as part of our state roundup. Reviewed October 13, 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with the Department of Taxation and Finance, your county and, in the city, the Office of Special Enforcement.

Key facts

• Governor Hochul signed S.885C/A.4130C in late December 2024 on condition of amendments; Chapter 99 of the Laws of 2025 (S.820/A.5686), signed in February 2025, replaced the planned Department of State registry with county registries and an opt-out, under Real Property Law Article 12-D.
• Booking platforms must collect and remit the 4 percent state sales tax and the local sales tax on short-term rentals statewide; a county that keeps a registry may also impose its occupancy tax on rentals, and one that opts out receives sales tax but not occupancy tax.
• Counties could opt out until the later of December 31, 2025 or nine months after the registry provisions took effect (reported as June 25, 2026); Monroe (December 2025, 21-8), St. Lawrence (May 4, 2026, 12-2) and Allegany (May 27, 2026) are among those that did, while Columbia County collects a 4 percent lodging tax and has had Airbnb remit it since April 1, 2026.
• New York City's Local Law 18 required platform verification from September 5, 2023; the city counted about 3,000 active registrations in its September 3, 2025 report and 3,522 approved hosts by June 2026, and four-year registrations come up for renewal starting October 2026.
• Platforms face civil penalties of up to $1,500 per unauthorized New York City transaction, and the city's pied-à-terre surcharge of 4 to 6.5 percent of value on non-primary condos and co-ops worth $1 million or more first appears on the January 1, 2027 tax bill.

Statewide rules

The state law is a tax-and-data statute wearing a registry's clothes. Its original version (A.4130/S.885) would have required every short-term rental in the state to register with the Department of State. The Governor's conditional approval in December 2024 sent it back, and the February 2025 chapter amendment produced the system now in force: each county that lacks its own registry must create one unless it adopts a local law opting out, counties may share a registry, and the Department of State receives only quarterly counts of bookings per county from the platforms. Counties with a registry receive the detailed version: rental locations, occupancy nights, guest counts and taxes collected, every quarter.

Tax is where the law bites everyone. Short-term rental units became subject to state and local sales tax statewide, and the platforms were made the collectors and remitters; confirm the operative date with the Department of Taxation and Finance if you are reconciling early 2025. Occupancy taxes, the hotel "bed taxes" counties levy under local acts, attach to rentals only where the county keeps a registry and amends its local law to reach them. The New York State Association of Counties' implementation memo spells out the trade: opt out and keep things simple, or run a registry and gain the occupancy tax and the data.

Nothing in the state law preempts a locality. Towns and villages keep their zoning and permit powers, New York City keeps Local Law 18 and the Multiple Dwelling Law's long-standing rule that a Class A multiple dwelling (three or more units) may not be rented for fewer than 30 days unless the permanent occupant is present. State registration, where a county runs one, sits alongside those rules rather than replacing them.

Co-op and condominium boards hold their own veto through proprietary leases and bylaws, and the covenant case law is surveyed in what courts have actually held about short-term rentals.

Major cities and counties

The city is the outlier by design. Outside it, the state law's main effect is that the platform now files sales tax for you and the county decides whether to add a registry and a bed tax.

Taxes

A New York stay of fewer than 90 days carries the 4 percent state sales tax and a local sales tax that varies by county (and, in the city, the city rate and the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District surcharge). Since 2025 the booking platform collects both on every short-term rental stay it processes, and the state distributes the local share through the normal sales tax process. County occupancy taxes apply where the county has a registry and has extended its local act to rentals, at rates set locally; Columbia County's is 4 percent. New York City layers its hotel room occupancy tax on top, administered by the city's Department of Finance.

Direct bookings have no platform to file for them. A host with a direct booking site registers with the Department of Taxation and Finance as a sales tax vendor, collects the state and local rate, files quarterly, and separately registers with the county (and the city's Department of Finance in the five boroughs) for occupancy tax. A county's opt-out removes the occupancy tax but not the sales tax. Keeping the county's decision, the local sales rate and any bed tax straight across a Hudson Valley portfolio is the problem Haven's tax and accounting features are built for, with per-property state, county, city and district rates and cited AI rate suggestions.

One more city tax reaches owners who do not host at all: the pied-à-terre surcharge on non-primary condos and co-ops valued at $1 million or more, 4 to 6.5 percent of market value for tax years 2026-27 and 2027-28; a full-year tenant can exempt the unit.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• February 2025: Chapter 99 of the Laws of 2025 enacted the county registry framework and statewide platform sales tax collection; the law took effect in spring 2025.
• September 3, 2025: New York City's FY25 Local Law 18 report: about 3,000 active registrations, a 40 percent approval rate and more than 4,300 denials.
• December 2025: Monroe County opted out of the registry, 21-8.
• April 1, 2026: Airbnb began remitting Columbia County's 4 percent lodging tax for its bookings.
• April 30, 2026: Int 879, the Local Law 18 reform bill, was introduced in the City Council; no committee hearing as of our review.
• May 2026: St. Lawrence (May 4) and Allegany (May 27) counties opted out; the opt-out window closed for remaining counties around June 25, 2026.
• June 2026: The Office of Special Enforcement counted 3,522 approved hosts, with more than 460 new registrations in FY26.
• October 2026: Four-year Local Law 18 registrations begin coming up for renewal.

How to stay compliant

1. Find out what your county decided: registry, shared registry or opt-out. The county clerk or planning office will know; the decision changes which taxes apply.
2. Register with the county where it runs a registry and with the Department of Taxation and Finance as a sales tax vendor for any direct bookings.
3. In the city, register with the Office of Special Enforcement before listing, host in person with no more than two paying guests, and prepare renewal materials for the October 2026 window.
4. Check the building: the prohibited buildings list, the Multiple Dwelling Law class, and the co-op or condo rules.
5. Collect the state and local sales tax on direct bookings and the county bed tax where it applies; file zero returns when required.
6. Put the registration number on every listing, including your own site; platforms verify it in the city and counties receive quarterly data elsewhere.
7. Keep town permits current; the state law did not replace them.

FAQ

Is Airbnb legal in New York?

Yes across the state, with local rules deciding the details. In New York City it is legal only for a registered host who is present during the stay with at most two guests, in a building not on the prohibited list. Upstate, counties decide whether to run a registry and towns keep their permit rules.

Do I need a state license to host in New York?

No state license exists. You register with your county if it runs a registry under the 2025 law, with the city's Office of Special Enforcement in New York City, and with the Department of Taxation and Finance for any sales tax you collect yourself.

What taxes do I pay on a New York short-term rental?

The 4 percent state sales tax plus the local sales tax, collected by the platform on platform bookings and by you on direct bookings; a county occupancy tax where the county keeps a registry and has extended it to rentals; and the city's hotel room occupancy tax in the five boroughs.

Can my county or city ban short-term rentals in New York?

A county cannot ban them under the state law, but a town or city can restrict them through zoning and permits, and New York City's Local Law 18 together with the Multiple Dwelling Law effectively bars unhosted rentals under 30 days in most buildings.

What changed in 2025 and 2026?

The county registry framework and statewide platform sales tax collection began in 2025; counties opted out through mid-2026; Columbia County's platform collection began April 1, 2026; and in the city the renewal cycle, the reform bill Int 879 and the pied-à-terre surcharge all arrived in 2026.

Sources

• New York State Senate — S.820 (2025) chapter amendment (accessed October 2026)
• New York State Association of Counties — Short-term rental implementation memo (accessed October 2026)
• Dutchess County Planning (NYS Department of State presentation) — Short-term rental regulation (accessed October 2026)
• Columbia County — Short-term rental lodging tax (accessed October 2026)
• NYSTIA — First-of-its-kind short-term rental law signed by Governor Hochul (accessed October 2026)
• Times Union — New York approves new rules for short-term rentals, like those on Airbnb (accessed October 2026)
• 13WHAM — Monroe County opts out of short-term rental registry (accessed October 2026)
• North Country Now — County legislators opt out of state's short-term rental registry (accessed October 2026)
• amNY — New short-term rental data 2026 (accessed October 2026)
• Rent Responsibly — What New York State's new STR registry means for hosts, platforms, and local governments (accessed October 2026)