STRWATCH.AI 50/50 MARKETS · UPDATED 2026-07-18 · ALL CITIES
STRWATCH.AI / MO / Branson

Is a short-term rental legal in Branson, MO?

HEAVILY REGULATED

As of 2026-07-18, Branson allows whole-home short-term rentals (STRs, defined as any dwelling unit rented for lodging for not less than one night and not more than 30 consecutive days) only in the zoning districts where the use table lists it as permitted — Conservation, Agricultural, Medium-Density Residential, High-Density Residential, Neighborhood Commercial, Community Commercial, Mixed-Use, Downtown, and Entertainment districts — and STRs are flatly prohibited in Low Density Residential, Business, and Industrial districts (Branson Municipal Code Sec.

Get alerts when Branson’s rules change

Verified2026-07-18against official sources

Whole-unit STR is permitted by-right in 9 of the city's 13 zoning districts (Conservation, Agricultural, Medium Density Residential, High Density Residential, Neighborhood Commercial, Community Commercial, Mixed-Use, Downtown, Entertainment) and is prohibited in Low Density Residential, Business, and Industrial districts; it is conditional in Planned Development districts (allowed only if the PD's development plan specifically lists the use) — Branson Municipal Code Ch. 94 use table and Sec. 94-61(e)(12)(b); Sec. 22-36. Renting out rooms while the host occupies the dwelling as their primary residence (270+ days/year, per the Sec. 22-43 definition) is not captured by the 'short-term rental' definition at all and therefore is not subject to the STR permit/license/zoning regime described here; a separate 'Bed and Breakfast Inn' use category (permitted only in HDR, NC, CC, MU, D, ENT districts) covers commercially-operated hosted lodging. No fixed numeric guest cap is set city-wide; each unit's maximum occupant load is determined case-by-case (fire/building code) and must be posted in the unit's emergency plan (Sec. 22-472(c)(4)).

What you need to operate

Short-Term Rental Business License $100/year
City of Branson Finance Department
Renewal: Annual; license year runs May 1–April 30 and must be renewed by May 1. Applications commencing Nov 1–Jan 31 pay 50% of the annual fee; Feb 1–Apr 30 pay 25%.
Required under Branson Municipal Code Sec. 22-38(d)/(e), 22-452; fee set in Appendix A Fee Schedule under citation 22-38(e), $100.00. It is unlawful to operate or advertise an STR without this license (Sec. 22-452). License is not transferable on change of ownership (Sec. 22-39). A short-term rental permit (see next requirement) must also be obtained; STR use is only allowed in zoning districts where the use table permits it — see legality.notes.
official source
Short-Term Rental Permit & Fire Safety Inspection $150 (fire inspection fee, paid before scheduling inspection)
City of Branson Finance Department (permit) / Branson Fire Department (inspection)
Renewal: Permit/inspection valid 3 years from approval; re-inspection required every 3 years or sooner if the city has knowledge of or receives complaints of non-compliance.
Required under Sec. 22-454 (fire inspections, within 6 months prior to license issuance) and Sec. 22-462/22-472 (permit required, Division 2 of Article VI). $150.00 fire inspection fee set in Appendix A Fee Schedule under citation 22-454. Permit is non-refundable but is assignable/transferable to a new property manager (Sec. 22-472(a)). Application must identify the exact dwelling-unit address, confirm the zoning classification allows STR use, name a responsible property manager with government ID, provide a posted emergency/safety plan (911 info, occupant load, floor plan with exits/extinguishers, hazardous-weather plan), and attest to working smoke detectors, at least one fire extinguisher, and no conflicting HOA/condo/covenant restrictions (Sec. 22-472(c)).
official source
Tourism Tax Deposit / Bond $100 minimum, one-time (refundable)
City of Branson Finance Department
Renewal: Reviewed each September; refunded after 3 consecutive years of timely tourism-tax payments. New applicants with an existing 3-year clean payment history are not required to post a new deposit.
Required under Sec. 82-99 (minimum amount set in Appendix A Fee Schedule, $100.00, citation 82-99) and cross-referenced for STR applicants specifically in Sec. 22-456. An approved letter of credit may substitute for a cash deposit if the calculated amount is $5,000 or more (not typical for a single STR unit).
official source
Business Name Registration (Missouri Secretary of State) / Missouri Sales Tax License Cost not verified
Missouri Secretary of State / Missouri Department of Revenue (submitted as part of the city's STR application)
Per the city's official STR program page, each STR business must provide a copy of its Missouri Secretary of State name/DBA registration (not required if the owner entity is already an LLC or corporation) and, unless the only advertising platform used is Airbnb, a copy of a Missouri State sales tax license for the city address. This item is stated on the city's informational/application page but was not located verbatim as a standalone codified section during this session — see needs_review.
official source

The full picture

As of 2026-07-18, Branson allows whole-home short-term rentals (STRs, defined as any dwelling unit rented for lodging for not less than one night and not more than 30 consecutive days) only in the zoning districts where the use table lists it as permitted — Conservation, Agricultural, Medium-Density Residential, High-Density Residential, Neighborhood Commercial, Community Commercial, Mixed-Use, Downtown, and Entertainment districts — and STRs are flatly prohibited in Low Density Residential, Business, and Industrial districts (Branson Municipal Code Sec. 22-36; Ch. 94 use table, Sec. 94-61(e)(12)). In Planned Development districts, STR is allowed only if the development's own plan specifically lists it as an allowed use, and renting individual rooms within a single-family dwelling (as opposed to the whole unit) is not permitted under the STR use category at all. Rentals that operate within an owner's actual primary residence (defined in the code as a home occupied a cumulative 270+ days/year) are excluded from the 'short-term rental' definition entirely and fall outside this regulatory regime. To operate a qualifying STR, an owner/property manager must obtain an annual Short-Term Rental business license ($100/year, due May 1, Sec. 22-38(e)) and a Short-Term Rental permit contingent on a Fire Department safety inspection ($150 inspection fee, permit valid 3 years, Sec. 22-454), post a $100 minimum tourism-tax deposit/bond (waived after 3 consecutive years of on-time tourism-tax payment, Sec. 82-99), display the STR license number in all advertising and platform listings (Sec. 22-455), retain 3 years of nights-rented/revenue records for city inspection on request (Sec. 22-460), and post an emergency safety plan with occupant load and evacuation info. Taxes on gross STR receipts total 12.1% in most of the city as of the city's current Sales & Tourism Tax Rate schedule (4.225% Missouri state sales tax + 1.875% Taney County sales tax [county + jail + ambulance district] + 2.0% Branson city sales tax + 4.0% Branson Tourism Tax), rising to 12.6–13.1% inside special improvement districts such as Branson Landing, Historic Downtown, and the 76 Entertainment District. The city's 4% Tourism Tax is remitted directly by the host/property manager to the city Finance Department by the 20th of each month — the city states no platform, including Airbnb or VRBO, currently remits it on a host's behalf. Violations are punishable as a general ordinance violation (fine up to $500 and/or up to 90 days in jail, each day a separate offense, Sec. 1-13), and unpaid tourism tax carries an automatic 10% delinquency fee plus 12%/year interest and can trigger business-license revocation after 30 days past due (Sec. 82-103). The current framework (Ordinance No. 2024-0065, adopted 2024-07-23, with implementing amendments 2024-10-08 and 2025-08-26) replaced the prior 'Nightly Rental' terminology with 'Short-Term Rental' for licensing purposes effective 2025-05-01.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
Missouri State Sales Tax 4.225% Short-term/nightly rental lodging charges (statewide base rate: 3.000% general + 1.000% education + 0.125% conservation + 0.100% parks & soil) Not verified source
Taney County Sales Tax 1.875% Short-term/nightly rental lodging charges within Taney County (1.500% county + 0.125% jail + 0.250% ambulance district) Not verified source
City of Branson Sales Tax 2.000% Short-term/nightly rental lodging charges within Branson city limits Not verified source
City of Branson Tourism Tax 4.000% Gross lodging receipts from short-term/nightly rentals within Branson city limits, paid directly to the city Finance Department by the 20th of the following month No source

Enforcement

PenaltiesOperating without the required business license, STR permit, or otherwise violating Article VI of Chapter 22 is a general ordinance violation under Branson Municipal Code Sec. 1-13: a fine not to exceed $500.00 and/or a jail sentence not to exceed 90 days, with each day a violation continues constituting a separate offense (Sec. 22-474 ties STR violations to Sec. 1-13). An STR permit may be suspended or revoked by the finance director for code violations, operating unlawfully, creating a public nuisance, false statements on the application, or failure to pay amounts owed to the city (Sec. 22-475), with an administrative appeal right (Sec. 22-476). Tourism tax delinquency separately carries an automatic 10% collection/delinquency fee plus 12%/year interest on unpaid amounts (Sec. 82-103(a)); failing to pay tourism tax for 30+ days past the due date can trigger revocation of the business license by the city clerk, with a $60.00 reinstatement fee once delinquent taxes, penalties and interest are paid (Sec. 82-103(b)-(c); Appendix A fee schedule).
Platform liabilityMissouri's marketplace-facilitator law (RSMo 144.752, effective January 1, 2023) requires marketplace facilitators to collect and remit state and local sales/use tax on retail sales of tangible personal property or taxable services made through their platforms; this likely extends to short-term-rental bookings, but no Missouri DOR or City of Branson guidance specifically confirming Airbnb/VRBO collection of state/county/city general sales tax on Branson STR bookings was found this session — see needs_review. The City of Branson has explicitly and repeatedly stated on its official STR pages that no platform, including Airbnb or VRBO, remits the city's own 4% Tourism Tax on a host's behalf; the host/property manager must file and pay it directly.
NotesThe STR permit license number must be listed on all advertisements and online platform listings for the property (Sec. 22-455). The city may request up to 3 years of records (total nights rented, dates rented, and gross amount charged per stay) from the property manager, to be produced within 10 business days (Sec. 22-460). Advertising, signage, or online listing of a property, or providing city/state tax documents showing STR activity, is treated as prima facie evidence of operating an STR business for enforcement purposes (Sec. 22-457).

What we could not verify (5)

  • Fetch-method caveat: library.municode.com returns HTTP 403 to the WebFetch tool and to direct curl (even with a browser user-agent), consistent with this session's known bot-wall behavior. All six Branson Municode citations above (Chapter 94 Zoning, Chapter 22 Businesses, Chapter 1 General Provisions, Chapter 82 Taxation, Appendix A Fee Schedule) were instead retrieved successfully by loading the page in a real headless Chromium session (via the project's browse tooling) and reading the rendered DOM/table content directly — not via a Wayback Machine capture (Wayback's availability API was itself temporarily offline during this session). All municode text quoted in this file (section numbers, dollar figures, ordinance history) was read directly from that live-rendered current codification, which the site itself labels 'version: Dec 3, 2025 (current)'. A reviewer using a simple curl/WebFetch call against these officialUrls should expect a 403 and will need an equivalent browser-based fetch to reproduce the verification.
  • No fixed numeric maximum-guest or per-bedroom occupancy cap was found anywhere in Branson Municipal Code Chapter 22 or 94; occupant load is determined case-by-case via the fire/building code and must be posted in each unit's emergency plan (Sec. 22-472(c)(4)). max_guests is left null rather than guessed.
  • collectedByPlatform is left null for the Missouri state, Taney County, and City of Branson general sales-tax lines (as opposed to the city Tourism Tax, which is confirmed false). Missouri's 2023 marketplace-facilitator statute (RSMo 144.752) covers 'tangible personal property or services' broadly and excludes travel-agency services by name, which suggests short-term-rental lodging is in scope, but no Missouri DOR bulletin, letter ruling, or Airbnb/VRBO Missouri-specific tax page confirming actual platform collection of these three general sales-tax components for Branson STR bookings was located and fetched this session.
  • The Business Name Registration / Missouri Sales Tax License requirement (last item in requirements[]) is stated on the city's official informational page (bransonmo.gov/969/13828) but was not found verbatim as a standalone codified section in Branson Municipal Code Chapter 22 Article VI during this session; it may be an administrative/application-portal (CitizenServe) requirement layered on top of the code rather than a separately codified duty. Treat the exact sourcing (code vs. administrative practice) as unconfirmed.
  • The City of Branson Sales & Tourism Tax Rates PDF (cited for the combined sales-tax breakdown) is dated 'Effective April 1, 2018' on its face. The 0% Branson/Lakes Tourism Community Enhancement District (TCED) rate on lodging within city limits was independently corroborated against a separately-fetched, undated Missouri DOR narrative page (accessed 2026-07-18) and is consistent with it, but no 2026-dated version of the full Branson-specific sales/tourism rate table was located to confirm every other line item (state/county/city base sales-tax components) is still unchanged since 2018; general Missouri state/county base sales-tax rates were cross-checked against the DOR's July 2026 statewide rate table and are consistent.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /branson-mo.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, verified against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between our verification passes. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.