Levy County, FL

Cedar Key, FL short-term rental registration

Cedar Key is small enough that its rule fits in a sentence, and precise enough that the sentence matters. Anyone carrying on a business in the city must hold a business tax receipt and apply for a certificate of business use permit before starting. Short-term rentals do not travel the home occupation route that other at-home businesses use: the city treats them as subject to their own licensing requirements, handled by the city clerk. The tax side is unusual too — Levy County's tourist development tax is collected by the state, not the county.[6]

Every rule below links to the official source it comes from, verified September 20, 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 and to apply for a certificate of business use permit before commencing operations, and 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, and 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, so with the 6% state sales tax and the 1% Levy surtax a guest pays 11%, all of it 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 and apply for a certificate of business use permit before commencing 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]

Apply on the Cedar Key site

What Florida asks wherever you host

These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.

  • Florida licenses vacation rentals itself. A house, townhouse or unit in a building of four units or fewer is licensed as a dwelling, a unit in a condominium or cooperative as a condominium, and the licence costs $150 plus $10 per rental unit plus a $10 hospitality education fee.[2]

  • A city cannot ban vacation rentals, nor regulate how long or how often you rent, unless its ordinance was already on the books on June 1, 2011. Ordinances adopted before that date survive untouched, which is why two neighbouring Florida towns can sit at opposite ends of the scale.[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, and so is the seventh month onward once a guest has stayed and paid for six.[3]

All Florida short-term rental laws

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.

Short-term rental tax layers in Cedar Key
LayerRateRemitted 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 stay11%

Levy is one of the counties whose tourist development tax the Department of Revenue collects, so a Cedar Key host files one state return for the whole 11% rather than a separate county one.[4]

How short-term rental taxes work for US hosts

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 — 283 out of every 1,000. That ranks Cedar Key 19th of the 33 Florida cities on this site for the share of its housing stock kept for part-year use.

Rank in the state
19th of 33
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

Indian Rocks Beach, FL

Registration required

851 seasonal homes, 249 per 1,000 housing units.

Rules in Indian Rocks Beach

St. Pete Beach, FL

Registration required

2,406 seasonal homes, 286 per 1,000 housing units.

Rules in St. Pete Beach

Cocoa Beach, FL

Registration required

2,242 seasonal homes, 248 per 1,000 housing units.

Rules in Cocoa Beach

Key Biscayne, FL

Registration required

1,736 seasonal homes, 238 per 1,000 housing units.

Rules in Key Biscayne
The state hubEvery Florida city on this site, in one tableState law, the tax stack and every city we cover in Florida, with what each one asks of a host.Open the Florida hub

FAQ

Cedar Key short-term rental questions

Is a Cedar Key short-term rental a home occupation?

No. The city expressly keeps short-term rentals outside its home occupation ordinance and treats them as subject to separate regulations and licensing.[6]

What does Cedar Key require before I start renting?

A business tax receipt and a certificate of business use permit, both obtained before operations begin. The city clerk's office handles short-term rental licensing.[6]

Who collects the tourist development tax in Levy County?

The Florida Department of Revenue, not the county. That makes Cedar Key one of the few places on this site where a single state return covers the whole stack.[4]
Read nextHow to start an AirbnbThe six steps in order, starting with the permit check.Read the guide

Sources

  1. Florida Statutes § 509.032(7), Duties — preemption of vacation rental regulation, The Florida Legislature, read on September 20, 2026
  2. Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, read on September 20, 2026
  3. 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
  4. Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates (DR-15TDT, R. 03/25), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
  5. Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (DR-15DSS), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
  6. 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 September 20, 2026. Rules can change after that date, so check with the issuing office before you apply or publish a listing.

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