Rental Rules by City / Texas / Galveston

Galveston short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Galveston County, Texas · Verified against official sources Oct 24, 2026

📋 The Basics

Can I rent my place short-term here?: Yes, with a license or tax registration
Do I need a permit?: Yes. Every unit needs a GVR registration number from the city.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 15%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Register for a GVR number ($250 a year).
Name a 24/7 local contact who can respond within an hour.
Renew every December.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Missing renewal: platforms remove your listing.

Words confusing? See the glossary. Details and official sources are below.

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: Texas state hotel occupancy tax 6% + City of Galveston hotel occupancy tax 9% = 15%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. City HOT 9% on gross revenue including cleaning/pet fees; Texas state HOT 6% (Texas Comptroller).

What Airbnb collects: What Airbnb collects here: verify on Airbnb's local tax help pages and in your payout reports; you remain responsible for any tax it does not collect.

This is the general rule for Galveston. Does your address qualify?

The free info covers the city as a whole. Your property can still be different: zoning can change from one street to the next, and an HOA or condo ban can stop rentals even where the city allows them.

Your $49 Compliance Check looks at your exact property:

Whether your exact address and zone allow short-term rentals
A check of HOA / condo rental restrictions to look for
Which permits and tax accounts you personally need
What you're missing right now
A personal report with clear next steps and official sources, by email
A refund if we report a rule in error (refund policy)

🔎 How we check: official city, county and state sources, a last-verified date on every page, and nothing guessed. Learn more

Check my address: $49

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Rules don't change every week, but they do change, and nobody emails you when they do. We'll alert you when city rules, tourist taxes, HOA-related laws, or Airbnb/Vrbo policies change in Galveston. Cancel anytime.

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Need guest waivers and booking tools too? Click here for more info

Why use this instead of a web search?

Instead of scattered, sometimes outdated pages, you get the city, county and state rules on one page, with official sources linked, a last-checked date, and unconfirmed items marked "verify" instead of guessed. How we verify →

Advanced details (laws, fees, sources)

Rules

Registration	Every short-term rental unit needs its own GVR registration number, administered by the City of Galveston since Oct 1, 2025 (Ordinance 15-012, Ch. 19). The GVR number must appear on every listing.
Renewal	Annual renewal Dec 1 to Dec 31; lapsed GVR numbers are sent to platforms and listings removed.
Local contact	A local contact must be available 24/7, respond to a complaint within one hour and resolve it within two hours, or face a City Marshal citation.
Fees	2026 registration fee: $250 per unit, valid through Dec 31, 2026; operators who registered late pay an extra $500 late fee.

Items marked "Verify with the city" could not be confirmed from an official source; call the office listed before relying on them.

Sources

Free tools

Free "Is my rental legal?" checklist · Free tourist tax calculator

Rules can change

Galveston's rules, its tax rates and platform policies can change through a council vote, a new state law or a court ruling, often with little notice to hosts. We re-check this page monthly; subscribers get notified. Stay Compliant for $4.99/mo.

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Rules, tax rates and Airbnb/Vrbo policies can change without warning, and hosts who miss a change can be fined. Get alerts when your city, county or state changes, deadline reminders, a pending-bill watch list and a monthly host brief (even in quiet months: "we checked on [date]; no changes"). Compare plans.

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Not legal or tax advice. Last verified Oct 24, 2026. Rules and rates change: confirm with the official sources linked before you rent or file.