Tacoma, Washington

Short-term rentals of fewer than 30 days are legal in Tacoma and the rules are relatively accommodating. Operators need a City of Tacoma Business License from the Tax and License Office, renewed annually, at a reported cost of about $104 per unit. Renting three or more individual rooms also requires a Transient Accommodation License. Whole-dwelling and ADU short-term rentals are allowed in all Residential, Commercial, Mixed-Use and Downtown districts, with no owner-occupancy requirement and no primary-residence requirement. There is no citywide cap on nights per year. If you rent individual rooms, the owner must live on site. One or two rooms are allowed without a permit in all residential districts, while three to nine rooms require a Conditional Use Permit in the R-3, R-4L, R-4, R-5, RCX and NRX districts and are allowed by right in Commercial, Mixed-Use and Downtown districts. Occupancy limits follow the Building and Structures Code. Safety compliance is required, including working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and posted safety signage showing exits, extinguishers and shut-offs. Hosts must register with the Washington Department of Revenue and collect and remit lodging taxes. Tacoma’s lodging-specific occupancy tax is the 7% Convention Center tax, and stays are also subject to combined sales tax of about 10.4% to 10.5%, for a combined percentage burden of roughly 17.4% to 17.5%, plus a flat $2-per-night Tourism Promotion Area charge where it applies. Enforcement is rated moderate and is largely complaint-driven. No major 2024 to 2026 ordinance overhaul was identified, but Washington HB 2559 proposes a 4% state short-term-rental tax phasing in around 2027, so verify its status before relying on current tax assumptions.