Port Isabel, TX short-term rental registration
Port Isabel treats the short-term rental question as a tax question, and says so by where it files it: registration goes to the finance department, not to planning. Any property let for less than thirty days has to be registered, collect the hotel-motel tax, and file monthly with both the city and the state. The stack is fifteen percent — six to the state, seven to the city, two to the Cameron County venue tax — and the two returns go to two different places on the same calendar.[3]
Every rule below links to the official source it comes from, verified September 20, 2026.
Can you rent short term in Port Isabel?
Register before you list
What you apply for: Short-term rental registration with the finance department
- Seasonal homes
- 316
- Housing units
- 2,661
- Residents
- 5,111
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-year estimates
- City ruleRegistration required
- City feeNone published
- Tax on each stay15%
- Seasonal homes119 per 1,000
Port Isabel short-term rental registration
Port Isabel requires any short-term rental property to be registered with the city's finance department, through the city's own tax portal rather than through planning or building. Short-term rentals, meaning stays of less than thirty days, are required to collect and pay the hotel-motel tax. Owners need a Texas taxpayer ID in order to remit the state hotel occupancy tax, and the hotel occupancy tax must then be filed monthly with both the City of Port Isabel and the Texas State Comptroller. The rates stack to fifteen percent: 6% for the State of Texas, 7% for the City of Port Isabel, and a 2% Cameron County venue tax, with the city rate applying in addition to the state one rather than instead of it. The city does not publish a permit or inspection requirement alongside this: the obligation it does publish is registration and timely monthly filing.[3]
What Port Isabel asks of you
The city requires any short-term rental property to be registered with the finance department, through the city's own tax portal.[3]
Short-term rentals, meaning stays of less than thirty days, are required to collect and pay the hotel-motel tax.[3]
Owners should obtain a Texas taxpayer ID in order to remit the state hotel occupancy tax.[3]
Hotel occupancy tax is filed monthly with both the City of Port Isabel and the Texas State Comptroller.[3]
What Texas asks wherever you host
These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.
Texas issues no state short-term rental licence. The statewide obligation is the hotel occupancy tax, and the Comptroller applies it to houses, condominiums and apartments as well as hotels.[1]
The state rate is 6 percent on a room costing $15 or more each day. Local hotel taxes reach further down, to sleeping rooms costing $2 or more each day, and the local taxing authority collects them itself.[1]
A guest who stays thirty or more consecutive days without interruption becomes a permanent resident and is exempt. Written notice of that intention makes the exemption run from the notice date; any interruption voids it.[2]
What a guest pays on top of your nightly rate in Port Isabel
Each layer is set by a different authority, and not all of them are collected by the platform.
| Layer | Rate | Remitted to |
|---|---|---|
| Texas state hotel occupancy tax[1] | 6% | The state revenue department |
| Cameron County venue tax[3] | 2% | The county |
| City of Port Isabel hotel occupancy tax[3] | 7% | The city |
| Total on a taxable stay | 15% |
Fifteen percent in total, and two returns: the city's 7% and the county's 2% go through the city portal, the state's 6% to the Comptroller, both monthly.[3]
How short-term rental taxes work for US hostsWhat the census counts
How much of Port Isabel is already a second home
The Census Bureau counts 316 of Port Isabel's 2,661 homes as vacant for seasonal, recreational or occasional use — 119 out of every 1,000. That ranks Port Isabel 6th of the 13 Texas cities on this site for the share of its housing stock kept for part-year use.
- Rank in the state
- 6th of 13
- Share of housing
- 119 per 1,000
- Median home value
- $182,600
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-year estimates, tables B25004, B25001, B01003 and B25077.
Nearby and comparable
Where Port Isabel sits among its neighbors
South Padre Island, TX
Registration required
3,704 seasonal homes, 669 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in South Padre IslandGalveston, TX
Registration required
5,711 seasonal homes, 160 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in GalvestonRockport, TX
Registration required
1,361 seasonal homes, 189 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in RockportMarble Falls, TX
Permit required
179 seasonal homes, 51 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in Marble FallsFAQ
Port Isabel short-term rental questions
Who do I register with in Port Isabel?
How much tax does a Port Isabel stay carry?
How often do I file?
Sources
- Hotel Occupancy Tax, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, read on September 20, 2026
- Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemptions (publication 96-224), Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, read on September 20, 2026
- Short Term Rental Info, Finance Department, City of Port Isabel, 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.
Before you list
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Check-in instructions
The message a guest reads before getting in: access, keys, WiFi, parking, contact. English or bilingual output.