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South Carolina · Isle of Palms

Isle of Palms

city Allowed with registration Needs review · last verified 2026-07-15

Short-term rentals are broadly permitted citywide in Isle of Palms, SC, subject to an annual short-term rental business license and operating standards. The City states: "All property owners who rent residential units (i.e. houses, condos, apartments, hotel rooms) for any length of time must obtain an Isle of Palms short term rental business license." The license fee is "$450 for the first $2,000 earned in gross income and $4.60 for each additional thousand in gross income," and owners are told "To avoid late fees please ensure rental fees are paid by April 30th." South Carolina's Business License Tax Standardization Act (Act 176 of 2020) requires municipalities levying a business license tax to issue licenses for a May 1–April 30 year, consistent with the City's April 30 due date. Core operating limits (quoted from the City's short-term rental page): maximum overnight occupancy is "two people per bedroom, plus two people up to a maximum occupancy of 12" (excluding children under age 2); total persons at any time may not exceed "twice the overnight occupancy or forty (40) persons," whichever is less; overnight vehicles (11:00 p.m.–9:00 a.m.) are limited to "the greater of one vehicle per bedroom or one vehicle for every 2.5 people allowed under the maximum overnight occupancy," never fewer than two. A 24/7 contact number with a representative able to be on site within one hour, a Fire Safety Acknowledgment Form, and a Rental Revenue Affidavit are required. Total transient tax on stays of 30 days or less is 14%, which the City itemizes as State Sales 5% + Local Option Sales 1% + Charleston County Transportation 1% + State Accommodations 2% + Charleston County School 1% + County Accommodations 2% + City Accommodations 1% + City Beach Preservation Fee 1%. There is NO cap on the number of STR licenses and NO primary-residence requirement for licensure: a citizen-petition referendum proposing a 1,600-license cap was REJECTED by voters on 11-7-2023 (54.5% against), and a proposed moratorium on new STR business licenses (Ord. 2022-14) was voted down by City Council 5-4 in December 2022. CAVEAT (see verification_notes): the codified Article 9 text on Municode returned HTTP 403 on repeated attempts, so section-level citations, ordinance-history dates, and the 5%/month late penalty could NOT be quote-anchored and are flagged. Ord. 2025-04 ("increase the base rate and rate per $1000 of income for all business licenses") and Ord. 2025-12 (class schedule update per Act 176) are on the City's ordinance list; their interaction with the currently published $450/$4.60 figures is unverified.

Not legal advice. Last verified 2026-07-15 · sources linked below.

Requirements checklist

  • city Isle of Palms Short-Term Rental Business License Required
    Fee: $450 / annual · Renewal: Annual. Tax due on or before April 30 each year (City: 'To avoid late fees please ensure rental fees are paid by April 30th'; business-license page quotes the ordinance's 'due date of the 30th day of April in each year'). License year May 1–April 30 is mandated statewide by Act 176 of 2020. DOWNGRADED: the draft's specific '5% of the unpaid tax per month, penalties shall not be waived (Sec. 7-1-12(A))' could NOT be quote-anchored — the City's business-license page says only 'Late payments shall be subject to penalties as set forth in section 7-1-12' without stating the rate, and Municode is inaccessible. · Applies to: Every owner renting a residential dwelling unit (house, condo, apartment, hotel room) within the City on a short-term basis. The City indicates each housing unit requires its own license; the codified per-unit rule (cited in the draft as Sec. 7-1-4(B)) could not be re-verified because Municode returned HTTP 403. · official page ↗
  • city 24/7 Owner or Owner's Representative Contact Number (one-hour on-site response) Required
    Fee: — · Renewal: Maintained continuously; provided with license application/renewal · Applies to: All licensed short-term rentals · official page ↗
  • city Fire Safety Acknowledgment Form Required
    Fee: — · Renewal: Required at each renewal · Applies to: All short-term rental license applicants — both new licenses and renewals · official page ↗
  • city Rental Revenue Affidavit and End-of-Year rental revenue statements Required
    Fee: — · Renewal: Annual, with license renewal · Applies to: STR licensees, in lieu of a tax document, to substantiate gross income for license tax computation · official page ↗
  • city Posted written notices inside and outside the residence (cited as Sec. 5-4-205) Required
    Fee: — · Renewal: Displayed at all times · Applies to: All short-term rentals; per the draft, interior notice within 15 feet of the main entrance and a weatherproofed noise-ordinance notice on exterior deck/porch/patio/pool or other gathering area · official page ↗
  • state South Carolina Retail License (SCDOR) Conditional
    Fee: — · Renewal: Per SCDOR retail license terms · Applies to: Owners who book short-term rental accommodations directly. NOT required where a property management or online travel company exclusively handles reservations and payments and remits under its own license; also not required if renting a room or space for no more than one week each calendar quarter (annual filing still required). Each location requires a separate retail license if the owner books directly. · official page ↗
  • city Portable parking permits for tenants (optional) Not required
    Fee: $15 / each · Renewal: Per calendar year (up to 4 permits per calendar year) · Applies to: STR owners who wish to provide tenants with parking permits; up to 4 per calendar year. Optional, not a condition of licensure. · official page ↗

Taxes

TaxRateAdministered byAirbnb remitsVrbo remits
Total transient tax on stays of 30 days or less — — — —
State Sales Tax on accommodations — — — —
State Accommodations Tax — — — —
City Beach Preservation Fee — — — —
City Accommodations Tax — — — —

Operating rules

Primary residence
No primary-residence requirement for licensure. However, the City notes a property-tax consequence: unless the property qualifies as the owner's primary legal residence under S.C. Code Ann. Sec. 12-43-220, it 'will be assessed at 6% of the fair market value for purposes of calculating property taxes.' This is an assessment-ratio consequence, not an STR eligibility restriction.
Min stay (nights)
—
Max nights / year
—
Max occupancy
—
Zoning-restricted
—
Cap on licenses
No cap. A citizen-petition referendum proposing a 1,600-license cap on STRs for homes taxed as commercial property was REJECTED by Isle of Palms voters on 11-7-2023 — 54.5% voted against, 2,569 total votes cast, ~56.86% turnout. Separately, Ord. 2022-14, 'to impose a moratorium on the issuance of new business licenses for short term rentals,' was voted DOWN by City Council 5-4 in December 2022 and never took effect. Both facts are load-bearing for str_status=allowed_with_registration and are corroborated by contemporaneous news reporting (Post and Courier, Live 5 News) plus the City's own ordinance pages; the referendum result itself is secondary-sourced.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Airbnb legal in Isle of Palms?
Short-term rentals are broadly permitted citywide in Isle of Palms, SC, subject to an annual short-term rental business license and operating standards. The City states: "All property owners who rent residential units (i.e. houses, condos, apartments, hotel rooms) for any length of time must obtain an Isle of Palms short term rental business license." The license fee is "$450 for the first $2,000 earned in gross income and $4.60 for each additional thousand in gross income," and owners are told "To avoid late fees please ensure rental fees are paid by April 30th." South Carolina's Business License Tax Standardization Act (Act 176 of 2020) requires municipalities levying a business license tax to issue licenses for a May 1–April 30 year, consistent with the City's April 30 due date. Core operating limits (quoted from the City's short-term rental page): maximum overnight occupancy is "two people per bedroom, plus two people up to a maximum occupancy of 12" (excluding children under age 2); total persons at any time may not exceed "twice the overnight occupancy or forty (40) persons," whichever is less; overnight vehicles (11:00 p.m.–9:00 a.m.) are limited to "the greater of one vehicle per bedroom or one vehicle for every 2.5 people allowed under the maximum overnight occupancy," never fewer than two. A 24/7 contact number with a representative able to be on site within one hour, a Fire Safety Acknowledgment Form, and a Rental Revenue Affidavit are required. Total transient tax on stays of 30 days or less is 14%, which the City itemizes as State Sales 5% + Local Option Sales 1% + Charleston County Transportation 1% + State Accommodations 2% + Charleston County School 1% + County Accommodations 2% + City Accommodations 1% + City Beach Preservation Fee 1%. There is NO cap on the number of STR licenses and NO primary-residence requirement for licensure: a citizen-petition referendum proposing a 1,600-license cap was REJECTED by voters on 11-7-2023 (54.5% against), and a proposed moratorium on new STR business licenses (Ord. 2022-14) was voted down by City Council 5-4 in December 2022. CAVEAT (see verification_notes): the codified Article 9 text on Municode returned HTTP 403 on repeated attempts, so section-level citations, ordinance-history dates, and the 5%/month late penalty could NOT be quote-anchored and are flagged. Ord. 2025-04 ("increase the base rate and rate per $1000 of income for all business licenses") and Ord. 2025-12 (class schedule update per Act 176) are on the City's ordinance list; their interaction with the currently published $450/$4.60 figures is unverified.
Do I need a license or registration for a short-term rental in Isle of Palms?
Yes — Isle of Palms requires: Isle of Palms Short-Term Rental Business License; 24/7 Owner or Owner's Representative Contact Number (one-hour on-site response); Fire Safety Acknowledgment Form. See the requirements checklist for fees, renewal, and official links.
What taxes apply to short-term rentals in Isle of Palms?
Total transient tax on stays of 30 days or less, State Sales Tax on accommodations, State Accommodations Tax, City Beach Preservation Fee, City Accommodations Tax. Use the lodging-tax estimator on this page for a specific stay.

Official sources

Related coverage

In South Carolina · Charleston County

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Compare with Charleston · Myrtle Beach · Hilton Head Island · North Myrtle Beach

Informational summary of publicly available sources; not legal advice. Verify against the linked official sources.