Rental Rules by City / Kentucky / Lexington

Lexington short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Fayette County, Kentucky · 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, with a zoning permit and a yearly Special Fees License.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 15.5%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Get the Zoning Compliance Permit.
Get a business license and Special Fees License.
Carry $1M liability insurance.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Renting without the Special Fees License (up to $500/day).

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

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: Kentucky state sales tax 6% + Kentucky statewide transient room tax 1% + Lexington transient room tax 8.5% = 15.5%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. 15.5% (KY 6% sales + 1% state room tax + 8.5% local room tax, due the 20th of the next month).

What Airbnb collects: Verify in payouts which Kentucky and Lexington taxes Airbnb remits.

This is the general rule for Lexington. 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. The penalties Lexington lists are on the Lexington page.

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

🔔 Stay notified: $4.99/month

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 Lexington. 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

Zoning	Zoning Compliance Permit from the Division of Planning.
Licenses	Occupational business license plus an annual Special Fees License: $200 first unit, $100 each extra unit.
Insurance	$1,000,000 liability insurance, site and floor plan, safety affidavit.
Hosted vs un-hosted	Hosted STRs must prove a permanent resident lives there. Unlicensed STRs face fines up to $500/day.

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

Lexington'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.