Short-term rental rules in Johnson City, TN

What Johnson City asks of you

• The city states that it does not currently have land use regulations for short-term rentals such as Airbnb or VRBO, so no specific permit is required to operate one.^[5]

• In 2019 the city clarified the language of its hotel and motel transient occupancy privilege tax ordinance to include short-term rentals.^[5]

• A 7% occupancy tax under section 5-302 of the municipal code applies within the corporate limits of Johnson City.^[5]

• Short-term rental hosts are responsible for state and local sales taxes in addition to the city's 7% transient occupancy privilege tax.^[5]

• The guest's total depends on the county. A stay at an address in Washington County totals 16.5%. In Carter County it totals 16.75%, and in Sullivan County 16.25%.^[4]

What Tennessee asks wherever you host

These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.

• Tennessee's definition covers a residential dwelling rented for a fee, in whole or in part, for under thirty continuous days. Hotels fall outside it, as do bed-and-breakfast establishments.^[1]

• A local ordinance passed after a property began operating as a short-term rental does not reach that property. The rules in place when it started keep governing it. A sale or other transfer ends that protection. Thirty continuous months without rental use end it as well. Three separate breaches of a generally applicable local law have the same effect.^[1]

• A city with a permit or application process may suspend a property's use while it lacks a permit. That power holds only when the city's requirements are reasonable.^[1]