Rental Rules by City / Tennessee / Nashville

Nashville short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Davidson County, Tennessee · 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?: Yes. You need a Short Term Rental Property permit before you rent or advertise.
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 16.75% plus $2.50 per night. Airbnb says it collects these for you; you still pay them on bookings outside Airbnb.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Check if your home qualifies: owner-occupied, or a non-owner home in allowed zones.
Apply for the STRP permit.
Confirm the taxes Airbnb collects.

⚠️ Biggest risk: Renting a non-owner-occupied home in a residential zone.

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

Tax calculator

Nightly rate ($) Nights Cleaning fee ($)

Rates used: TN state sales tax 7% + Davidson County local sales tax (incl. 0.5% transit surcharge) 2.75% + Metro hotel occupancy tax 7% = 16.75%, plus $2.50 per night. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. Metro occupancy tax is 7% plus $2.50 per room per night (Metro Code 5.12.150). Davidson local sales tax 2.75% since Feb 1, 2025 (TN DOR).

What Airbnb collects: Airbnb collects TN state sales tax (7%), local sales tax and locally imposed occupancy taxes in Tennessee.

This is the general rule for Nashville. 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 Nashville lists are on the Nashville 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 Nashville. Cancel anytime.

Stay notified

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

Permit	A Short Term Rental Property (STRP) permit is required before operating or advertising.
Owner-occupied	Must be the owner's primary residence, owned by natural persons (not LLCs/trusts), up to 4 sleeping rooms; one permit per lot in single/two-family zoning.
Non-owner-occupied	New permits only in specified commercial/mixed-use zones, not AR2A, R, RS or RM districts.
Fees & penalties	Verify with the city (Metro Codes).

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

Nashville'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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Get a personalized STR Compliance Check ($49) for your exact address in any US city: the permits, registrations and tax accounts you need, with official sources, delivered by email in 48 business hours. Not legal advice.

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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.