Port Isabel, TX short-term rental registration
Port Isabel asks one thing before you rent short term: register the property with its finance department. The thirty-day line defines what counts as a short-term rental and does not cap your nights. Two returns follow, since the county venue tax is paid through the city portal along with the city's own share.[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. Registration goes 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 should obtain a Texas taxpayer ID to remit the state hotel occupancy tax. 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, 7% for the City of Port Isabel, and a 2% Cameron County venue tax. The city rate applies 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 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 license. What the state does impose is its hotel occupancy tax. The Comptroller applies it to houses, condominiums and apartments, not only to hotels.[1]
A room priced at $15 or more a day owes the state 6 percent. Local hotel taxes start lower, at $2 a day for a sleeping room. The local taxing authority collects those itself.[1]
After thirty consecutive days without interruption, a guest becomes a permanent resident, exempt from the tax. A guest who announces that plan in writing is exempt from the date of the notice. 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]
What 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. That is 119 out of every 1,000. It ranks Port Isabel 9th of the 23 Texas cities on this site for the share of its housing stock kept for part-year use.
- Rank in the state
- 9th of 23
- 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
San Antonio, TX
Permit required
Type 1 if the owner or operator lives on site, Type 2 if not. Type 2 rentals are capped at 12.5% of a block face.
San Antonio short-term rental rulesSouth Padre Island, TX
Registration required
3,704 seasonal homes, 669 per 1,000 housing units.
South Padre Island short-term rental rulesAransas Pass, TX
Permit required
676 seasonal homes, 136 per 1,000 housing units.
Aransas Pass short-term rental rulesFredericksburg, TX
Allowed by zone
751 seasonal homes, 115 per 1,000 housing units.
Fredericksburg short-term rental rulesFAQ
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.
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