Short-term rental rules in Pinellas County are layered, and they differ sharply from one city to the next.
The state layer. A whole home or condo rented to guests more than three times a calendar year for stays under 30 days, or advertised as regularly rented, is a vacation rental under Florida law (FS 509.013(4)(a)1 and FS 509.242(1)(c)) and needs a DBPR vacation rental license. Florida preempts local bans: under FS 509.032(7)(b), cities and counties may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate their duration or frequency, except through ordinances adopted on or before June 1, 2011. That grandfather clause is why some Pinellas beach cities can still enforce strict frequency limits. Note that SB 280 (2024), which would have created a statewide registry, was vetoed on June 27, 2024 and is not law. unverified
Taxes. Stays of six months or less carry 6% state sales tax plus the 1% Pinellas surtax (paid to the Florida Department of Revenue) and the 6% Pinellas Tourist Development Tax (paid to the Pinellas County Tax Collector), 13% total. Airbnb and Vrbo collect the Pinellas TDT for platform bookings, but owners remain liable if a platform does not.
Local layer, by jurisdiction (verified August 2026):
- Unincorporated Pinellas County: a Certificate of Use program adopted in March 2025 requires registration ($450 initial plus inspection fees), occupancy caps (2 guests per bedroom plus 2, max 10), and parking minimums. unverified
- Indian Rocks Beach: annual vacation rental registration under Ordinance 2023-02, plus city business tax.
- Madeira Beach: city registration and Certificate of Compliance with a designated responsible party.
- St. Petersburg: no registration program, but residential properties may only rent for under-30-day stays a maximum of 3 times in any 365-day period unless operating as a licensed hotel/motel or within a Resort Facilities Overlay.
- St. Pete Beach: under-30-day rentals allowed only in the RM zone and Pass-A-Grille Overlay, and only up to 3 times per 12 months; the city declined to adopt a registration program in August 2026.
- Clearwater: rentals under 31 days are not allowed in residential districts at all, and every residential rental requires a city business tax receipt.
- Treasure Island: city business tax required; zoning limits how often occupancy can change in some districts.
Rules in the other beach communities vary and change; always confirm with the specific city before buying a property to rent. Where a rule was adopted after June 2011, its enforceability can also be contested, so treat city registration programs as mandatory compliance items rather than legal opinions.
The practical bottom line most people miss. In St. Petersburg the grandfathered ordinance means a home or condo in an ordinary residential or downtown district (for example DC-1/DC-2 Downtown Center, or the NT/NS/NSM neighborhood districts) may be rented for stays under 30 days NO MORE THAN three times in any 365-day period. That cap makes a regular Airbnb or VRBO operation non-compliant at most addresses. Frequent short-term rental is only allowed where the property is a licensed hotel or motel, or sits in a Resort Facilities Overlay / resort-zoned area. Those resort areas are concentrated on the barrier-island beach communities (for example parts of St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and Madeira Beach) and a few specific overlays, NOT downtown St. Petersburg or typical residential neighborhoods. So for a normal downtown or residential parcel the honest answer is: you cannot legally run a frequent short-term rental there, regardless of getting a DBPR license or business tax receipt. Always confirm the specific parcel's zoning and overlay status before concluding it qualifies.
Verified fact about St. Petersburg specifically (checked against the city's own GIS, 2026-08-30): the City of St. Petersburg's Future Land Use map contains NO Resort Facilities category. Its categories are Central Business District, the Residential tiers, Commercial, Activity Center, Planned Redevelopment, and similar, none of which is a resort designation. Resort Facilities land use exists only in the separate barrier-island beach municipalities (St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach and the like), which are their own cities with their own rules. Therefore, within the City of St. Petersburg there is NO resort-overlay exception to invoke: an ordinary home or condo cannot be operated as a frequent short-term rental, period. The only in-city exception is a property that is itself a licensed hotel or motel. Do not tell a St. Petersburg owner to 'check for a resort overlay'; state that the city has none.