Short-term rental rules in Cedar Key, FL
Cedar Key treats a short-term rental as a business, so a business tax receipt and a certificate of business use permit come first. Do not file under the home occupation route other at-home businesses use, since the city clerk handles short-term rentals separately.[6]
Every rule below links to the official source it comes from, verified October 2, 2026.
Can you rent short term in Cedar Key?
Register before you list
What you apply for: Business tax receipt and certificate of business use permit
- Seasonal homes
- 225
- Housing units
- 795
- Residents
- 875
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-year estimates
- City ruleRegistration required
- City feeNone published
- Tax on each stay11%
- Seasonal homes283 per 1,000
Cedar Key short-term rental rules
Cedar Key requires any person or business carrying on a business, profession or occupation within the city to obtain a business tax receipt. They must also apply for a certificate of business use permit before starting operations. A short-term rental is such a business. The city is explicit that short-term rentals are not home occupations. They fall outside the home occupation ordinance that governs other businesses run from a dwelling. They are subject instead to separate regulations and licensing requirements, which the city clerk's office administers. The tax stack is also unlike most of the Florida coast. Levy County's 4% tourist development tax is one of the minority collected by the Florida Department of Revenue rather than by the county itself. With the 6% state sales tax and the 1% Levy surtax, a guest pays 11%. All of it goes on a single state return rather than two.[6]
What Cedar Key asks of you
Any person or business engaged in or managing a business, profession or occupation within the City of Cedar Key must obtain a business tax receipt. They must also apply for a certificate of business use permit before starting operations.[6]
Short-term rentals are not home occupations: the city excludes them from its home occupation ordinance.[6]
They are subject to separate regulations and licensing requirements, which the city clerk's office administers.[6]
What Florida asks wherever you host
These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.
Florida licenses vacation rentals itself. A dwelling license covers houses, townhouses and buildings of up to four units. A condominium or cooperative unit takes a condominium license instead. The license costs $150 plus $10 per rental unit, plus a $10 hospitality education fee.[2]
No Florida city may ban vacation rentals. It may not set how long or how often you rent either. The one exception is a local ordinance already in force on June 1, 2011, which still applies.[1]
State sales tax is due on every rental of six months or less. A bona fide written lease for more than six months of continuous residence is exempt. So is the seventh month onward once a guest has stayed and paid for six.[3]
What a guest pays on top of your nightly rate in Cedar Key
Each layer is set by a different authority, and not all of them are collected by the platform.
| Layer | Rate | Remitted to |
|---|---|---|
| Florida state sales tax[3] | 6% | The state revenue department |
| Levy County discretionary sales surtax[5] | 1% | The state revenue department |
| Levy County Tourist Development Tax[4] | 4% | The state revenue department |
| Total on a taxable stay | 11% |
Levy is one of the counties whose tourist development tax the Department of Revenue collects. A Cedar Key host files one state return for the whole 11% rather than a separate county one.[4]
What the census counts
How much of Cedar Key is already a second home
The Census Bureau counts 225 of Cedar Key's 795 homes as vacant for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. That is 283 out of every 1,000. It ranks Cedar Key 22nd of the 48 Florida cities on this site for the share of its housing stock kept for part-year use.
- Rank in the state
- 22nd of 48
- Share of housing
- 283 per 1,000
- Median home value
- $378,000
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-year estimates, tables B25004, B25001, B01003 and B25077.
Nearby and comparable
Where Cedar Key sits among its neighbors
St. Pete Beach, FL
License required
2,406 seasonal homes, 286 per 1,000 housing units.
St. Pete Beach short-term rental rulesIndian Rocks Beach, FL
Registration required
851 seasonal homes, 249 per 1,000 housing units.
Indian Rocks Beach short-term rental rulesCocoa Beach, FL
Registration required
2,242 seasonal homes, 248 per 1,000 housing units.
Cocoa Beach short-term rental rulesEstero, FL
No city ordinance
7,572 seasonal homes, 281 per 1,000 housing units.
Estero short-term rental rulesFAQ
Cedar Key short-term rental questions
Is a Cedar Key short-term rental a home occupation?
What does Cedar Key require before I start renting?
Who collects the tourist development tax in Levy County?
Sources
- Florida Statutes § 509.032(7), Duties — preemption of vacation rental regulation, The Florida Legislature, read on September 20, 2026
- Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, read on September 20, 2026
- Sales and Use Tax on Rental of Living or Sleeping Accommodations (GT-800034, R. 10/25), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
- Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates (DR-15TDT, R. 10/26), Florida Department of Revenue, read on October 2, 2026
- Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (DR-15DSS), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
- Home Occupation Business, business tax receipt and certificate of business use, City of Cedar Key, read on September 20, 2026
This page is not legal advice. It summarizes the official sources listed on this page as they read on October 2, 2026. Rules can change after that date, so check with the issuing office before you apply or publish a listing.
Before you list
Free tools for new hosts
Short-term rental agreement generator
Parties, dates, rent, deposit checked against your state's cap, and the house rules clauses you enforce. A signed-ready PDF for direct and Vrbo bookings.
Airbnb host fee calculator
What Airbnb takes on a booking under the 15.5% host-only fee or the old split fee, what the guest pays on top, and the payout that reaches you.
Airbnb house rules
Generate a complete PDF house rules document for your property: rules, schedule, amenities, emergency contacts.
Check-in instructions
The message a guest reads before getting in: access, keys, WiFi, parking, contact. English or bilingual output.