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Orlando and Kissimmee vacation rental rules: the DBPR license, zoning, and a 6% tourist tax on both sides of the county line

Sergej Sitki · founder of ReceptionGO and host
Published November 3, 2026 · 5 min read

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change often and vary by state, county and city — confirm your situation with the local agency or a CPA.

A house rented more than three times a year for under 30 days needs a Florida vacation rental license from DBPR. Orange County (Orlando) and Osceola County (Kissimmee) then add their own zoning and a tourist development tax of 6% in Osceola — on the whole guest charge, including cleaning fees — plus state sales tax. Florida stops cities from banning short stays. It does not stop your HOA.

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Orlando and Kissimmee are the country’s default vacation-rental market: a house pointed at a theme park, a guest who lands late, and three governments that each want a form. Florida will not let the county ban you. It will license you, tax you at two or three layers, and stand aside while the HOA does what the county cannot.

Which government you are actually in

“Near Disney” is not a jurisdiction. The house is in Orange County or Osceola County, and it may also be inside a city — Orlando, Kissimmee, Davenport’s orbit, or unincorporated county. Tourist tax follows the county. Zoning follows the county or the city. A Kissimmee mailing address is a clue, not an answer. Osceola’s zoning office publishes a short-term rental overlay and tells planned-development owners to call, because the development order can be stricter than the base district.

The order that avoids a rewrite

1. HOA or condo first. Florida’s preemption in §509.032 binds local government. It does not bind a declaration of covenants. This is the whole plot of HOA rules for short-term rentals.
2. DBPR vacation rental license if you rent to the public more than three times in a calendar year for less than 30 days, or hold the home out as regularly rented. That is a public lodging license, with safety basics inspectors actually look for.
3. Local business tax and any city registration. Osceola wants the DBPR number before the local receipt. Do not reverse it.
4. Two tax accounts, not one. Sales tax (6% plus the county surtax) goes to the Department of Revenue. Tourist development tax goes to the county. Osceola’s rate is 6%, on stays under 180 days, and mandatory fees are in the base. Forfeited deposits that guaranteed the stay are taxable too.

The state framework — why cities cannot copy Miami Beach, what a platform remits, what an HOA can still do — is the Florida vacation rental guide. Miami Beach itself, where a short stay really is illegal in most houses, is a separate article.

The guest is the operating problem

These houses turn over on Saturdays, the guest’s flight is late, and the person at the door is often not the name on the Airbnb account. A code in the app message does not tell you that. A check-in they finish before landing does: who they are, how many, the parking pad, the gate, the fact that the community fines the owner for a street full of cars. Late arrival is the product. Build for it.

Hurricane season runs under the high season. Close dates on every channel from one place, or you will refund a guest who booked the gap. Same lesson as the tax: if it is not on one list, it will be wrong on one channel.