Short-term rental tax profile
Lake City, Minnesota
6.875% + 1.25% + Lake City lodging tax
Parts of this profile are unconfirmed. Treat it as a starting point and verify with the authority before charging a guest.
Is it allowed here
Lake City permits STRs with required registration. City-level licensing and registration required. No known caps.
What counts as a short-term rental here
Stays less than 30 days
Long stays
30 days or more with enforceable written lease are exempt
Stays less than 30 consecutive days (or 30+ days without enforceable written lease) are taxable under state and city tax; county likely same
Source High
What the guest is charged
| Tax | Rate | Applies to | Counts as short-term | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota state general sales taxState of Minnesota Department of Revenue | 6.875% | Includes cleaning fee and all guest charges. | Stays less than 30 days (or ≥30 days without an enforceable written lease) | High | Source |
| Lake City lodging taxCity of Lake City | Confirm with the authority | Gross lodging charges (likely includes cleaning fee but confirm with city ordinance). | Stays less than 30 consecutive days | Low | Unverified |
| Wabasha County lodging taxWabasha County | 1.25% | Gross lodging charges (assumed) | Less than 30 days | Low | Unverified |
Who actually remits it
Whoever runs the guest's card owes the tax. That is the whole rule, and it is why the same booking can be taxed differently on two platforms.
| Platform | Merchant of record | Collects | You charge | You remit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | Platform | Partially | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) |
| Vrbo | Partner | None | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) |
| Booking.com | Partner | None | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) |
| Expedia | Partner | None | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) |
| Partner | None | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) | |
| Whimstay | Partner | None | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) |
| Direct | Partner | None | 6.875% + 1.25% + local Lake City lodging rate | State sales tax 6.875%, County lodging tax 1.25%, City lodging tax (unknown rate) |
On a real booking
$200 a night, 2 nights, $50 cleaning
For a 2-night booking at $200/night plus $50 cleaning: taxable base = $450. State tax at 6.875% = $30.94, county at 1.25% = $5.63, city rate TBD.
What you have to hold
-
Lake City STR registration
Dwelling rented for less than 30 consecutive days
- Issued by
- City of Lake City
- Cost
- One-time registration fee (amount unspecified)
- Renewal
- none
- Lead time
-
MDH lodging license / inspection
Rentals less than one week require MDH lodging license or inspection
- Issued by
- City of Lake City (Minnesota Department of Health)
- Cost
- Per MDH standard lodging license cost
- Renewal
- per license terms
- Lead time
What you file, and when
| Obligation | Frequency | Due | File with no bookings? | If you are late | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Register with Minnesota DOR and file sales tax returns per schedule | monthly | Follow state sales tax filing schedule | Not confirmed | Not stated | State of Minnesota Department of Revenue |
Still to confirm
These are the figures we could not confirm from a primary source. Confirm them before you charge a guest.
What is the Lake City lodging tax rate and taxable base?
Effective rate and taxable base is needed for correct charge
Ask: City of Lake City
Confirm Wabasha County lodging tax rate and filing procedure for short-term rentals
Ensure correct county tax and compliance
Ask: Wabasha County Revenue Office
What this page cannot see
Your HOA, condo board or neighborhood covenant
This page covers public law: what the state, county and city require. It cannot see the private rules attached to your specific property. An HOA, a condo association, a co-op board or a recorded neighborhood covenant can cap nights, require its own registration and fees, demand approval of every guest, or prohibit short-term renting outright, no matter what Lake City, Minnesota allows. Those documents are not published anywhere public, so read your CC&Rs, bylaws and any lease before you take a booking. They routinely override everything above.
Sub-city districts you may sit inside
Tax can also attach below the city line. Tourism improvement and business improvement districts, resort area districts, convention and stadium districts, transit districts and community development districts are all drawn on a map, and whether you owe them depends on which side of a street you are on. They are usually a small percentage or a flat nightly amount, they are charged to the guest like any other lodging tax, and they are the layer most often missed because nobody expects a district smaller than a city to levy one.
If your address sits inside one, your county or city finance office can confirm it. Ask specifically whether any special district assessment applies to transient lodging at your parcel.
Primary sources
Take the PDF with you
Everything above as a designed profile you can file, print, or hand to a bookkeeper. Reading it here stays free; the document goes to an inbox.
Corzly does not file this for you
You register, you collect, you remit, you hold the licenses. What we do is run the property so those numbers are right in the first place, on every channel, without you chasing them.
We manage short-term rentals remotely, 300+ properties across 50+ cities and 7 countries, so where the property sits makes no difference to whether we can take it on.
Talk to us about your portfolioHow to use this page. Corzly does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice, and we are not licensed tax professionals. This profile is automated research compiled from published government sources. Each figure carries a link to the source we read, so you can verify it yourself rather than take our word for it.
Tax rates, license requirements and filing rules change, and any source can be superseded without notice. Anything we could not confirm is marked Low confidence or listed under "Still to confirm" rather than guessed at. Before charging a guest, registering, or filing a return, confirm every figure directly with the taxing authority.
Registering, collecting, filing and remitting remain your responsibility. If the amounts matter to your business, and they do, take this research to a licensed tax professional or the authority itself before acting on it.
If you would rather hand the whole thing off, a service like Avalara MyLodgeTax can register, file and remit on your behalf.