Rental Rules by City / Texas / Surfside Beach

Surfside Beach short-term rental rules & tax calculator

Brazoria County, Texas · Verified against official sources Oct 26, 2026

📋 The Basics

Can I rent my place short-term here?: Yes, with a permit
Do I need a permit?: Yes, with village registration ($200/yr).
What taxes do I pay?: Total about 11%. Check your Airbnb payout report to see which ones Airbnb collects; you pay the rest yourself.

Your 3 steps to be legal

Register on the portal.
Post placard.
File HOT quarterly.

⚠️ Biggest risk: HOT late penalties.

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% + Surfside Beach village HOT 5% = 11%. Mandatory cleaning fees are included in the taxable total. 11% total (5% village + 6% state). Airbnb and Vrbo do not remit the village HOT.

What Airbnb collects: Airbnb and Vrbo do not remit Surfside Beach's 5% village HOT: file it yourself.

This is the general rule for Surfside 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 Surfside Beach lists are on the Surfside 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

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 Surfside Beach. 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Instead of scattered, sometimes outdated pages, you get the city, county and state rules on one page, with official sources linked, a last-checked date, and unconfirmed items marked "verify" instead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	Register before advertising or operating: $200 (Jan-Jun), $100 (Jul-Sep), $50 (Oct-Dec); $200 annual renewal due Dec 31.
Rules	Post the village placard visible from the street; 24/7 local contact who responds within 1 hour.
HOT filing	Quarterly HOT returns, even with no rentals; late penalties 5%/10%/15% after 30/60/90 days.

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

Surfside 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 26, 2026. Rules and rates change: confirm with the official sources linked before you rent or file.