Rental Rules by City / South Carolina / Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Horry County, South Carolina · Verified against official sources Oct 24, 2026

📋 The Basics

Can I rent my place short-term here?: Only in some areas
Do I need a permit?: You need a city business license for any rental; zoning decides if short stays are allowed.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 10%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Check your zoning with the city.
Get a city business license.
File city hospitality and accommodations reports by the 20th.

⚠️ Biggest risk: 5% penalty for each month your license renewal is late.

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

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: SC state sales tax 5% + SC state accommodations tax 2% + City local accommodations tax 0.5% + City hospitality fee 1% + Horry County hospitality fee 1.5% = 10%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. City rates effective July 1, 2021 (0.5% local accommodations tax + 1% hospitality fee); Horry County collects its 1.5% hospitality fee inside the city. Horry County local option sales taxes not included: verify with SCDOR.

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 Myrtle Beach. 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 Myrtle Beach lists are on the Myrtle Beach 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

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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 Myrtle Beach. Cancel anytime.

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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

Business license	A City business license is required for ALL rental properties, short- and long-term (ordinance effective June 1, 2015). Renewals due April 30; 5% penalty per month late.
Short-term definition	Stays under 90 consecutive days are transient for hospitality fee and accommodations tax.
Filing	City hospitality fee and accommodations tax reports are due the 20th after each period, even with zero sales; do not send these to SCDOR.
Zoning	Whether short-term rentals are allowed at your address depends on zoning: verify with the city's Planning/Zoning department.

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

Myrtle Beach'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.