Short-term rental tax profile

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

9%

Researched 2026-09-11

Is it allowed here

Short-term rentals are allowed in Myrtle Beach only in zones that permit them; zoning confirmation required.

What counts as a short-term rental here

Less than 90 consecutive days

Long stays

90 consecutive days or more are exempt

Rentals less than 90 consecutive days are taxed; 90 days or more to same patron at same location are exempt.

Source High

What the guest is charged

TaxRateApplies toCounts as short-termConfidence
State Accommodations TaxSouth Carolina Department of Revenue (state) 7% gross proceeds (cleaning fee included unless statutory exemption) less than 90 consecutive days High Source
Horry County Hospitality Fee (inside municipal limits)Horry County Treasurer, Hospitality Fee Department 1.5% gross proceeds less than 90 consecutive days High Source
Myrtle Beach Accommodations TaxCity of Myrtle Beach Finance Department 0.5% gross proceeds as per state (less than 90 consecutive days) High Source

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.

PlatformMerchant of recordCollectsYou chargeYou remit
Airbnb Platform Partially 7% state + 1.5% county + 0.5% city = 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%
Vrbo Partner None 7% state + 1.5% county + 0.5% city = 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%
Booking.com Partner None 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%
Expedia Partner None 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%
Google Partner None 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%
Whimstay Partner None 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%
Direct Partner None 9% total State Accommodations Tax 7%, County Hospitality Fee 1.5%, City Accommodations Tax 0.5%

On a real booking

$100 a night, 1 nights, $20 cleaning

Booking a one-night stay at $100 night with cleaning fee $20, owner charges 9% taxes on total $120.

What you have to hold

  • Retail Sales Tax License

    Any direct short-term rental booking

    Issued by
    South Carolina Department of Revenue
    Cost
    Varies
    Renewal
    annual
    Lead time
    Varies
    Apply

  • Horry County Business License

    Short-term rental in unincorporated or municipal limits

    Issued by
    Horry County Business License Department
    Cost
    Based on gross rental income per NAICS rate schedule
    Renewal
    annual
    Lead time
    Apply prior to rental use
    Apply

  • Myrtle Beach Business License

    Short-term rental inside city limits

    Issued by
    City of Myrtle Beach
    Cost
    City business license per city schedule
    Renewal
    annual
    Lead time
    Apply prior to rental use

What you file, and when

ObligationFrequencyDueFile with no bookings?If you are lateTo
File SCDOR return (ST-388 etc.) monthly State return and payment due as per S.C. Code §12-36-2570 (monthly or quarterly based on threshold) and local county due by 20th of following month. YesZero returns are required even if no rentals. Not stated South Carolina Department of Revenue
File county hospitality fee return monthly County hospitality fee return due by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. Yes Not stated Horry County Treasurer
File city accommodations tax return monthly City accommodations fee due same as state via city form. Yes Not stated City of Myrtle Beach Finance Department

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 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 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.

  • Two to three pagesRates, channels, licenses, filing dates
  • Every figure sourcedLinked to the government page we read
  • DatedStamped with the research date, so you know how fresh it is

Sending it to a partner or a bookkeeper instead? Use their address. We send the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina profile once, from Corzly, and we do not add anyone to a mailing list.

Useful to a co-host, a bookkeeper, or anyone buying in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The layer underneath this one Short-term rental taxes across South Carolina What every South Carolina property owes before county, city and district rules stack on top.

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 portfolio

How 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.