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/STAY · LOCAL RULES · GATLINBURG, TN

Gatlinburg overnight rental rules

Every overnight rental inside Gatlinburg city limits, of less than 30 days, needs a Tourist Residency Permit and a yearly fire and building inspection. Homes outside the city follow Sevier County's separate fire marshal permit.

Checked on Nov 11 2026 against the official pages below

The three things to know

PERMIT

A Tourist Residency Permit: $200 for up to 2 bedrooms, $75 for each bedroom over two, which pays for the fire and building inspection, renewed with a yearly inspection. Confirm zoning with Building and Planning first. You also need city and county business licenses ($15 each) and a Tennessee tax ID.

DOOR NOTICE

Gatlinburg's lodging rule: a notice in each room, in plain sight, stating the price per day. We found no other rental-specific posting rule in the city code.

TAX

City 1.25% gross receipts tax you pay yourself (platforms don't), a 3% city hotel tax added to the guest's bill, and 9.75% Tennessee sales tax. The city says platforms collect the 3% and the state tax on their bookings.

Print the door notice

Gatlinburg's code says any overnight lodging must post the price per day in each room (sec. 9-602). This prints that notice. Print one for each bedroom.

Type what you know. Anything left empty prints as a line to write on, so it works as a blank form too. What you type stays on this phone.

GATLINBURG OVERNIGHT RENTAL

Room rate

Posted as required by Gatlinburg Municipal Code sec. 9-602.

    Gatlinburg Municipal Code sec. 9-602. Notice made free at headedin.com/stay/rules/gatlinburg/

    Prints one letter page. Post one in each bedroom where guests will see it.

    What the rules say

    The Tourist Residency Permit
    "Each tourist residence… must have a tourist residency permit and have an annual tourist residency inspection."Municipal Code sec. 5-702
    • Rentals "of less than thirty days duration" inside city limits (sec. 5-701), where the zoning allows. Confirm zoning with Building and Planning (865-436-7792) first.
    • Fee (city page): $200 for up to 2 bedrooms, plus $75 per bedroom over two; it covers the fire and building inspection. The Fire Department runs the inspections.
    • Units over 3 stories, over 5,000 square feet or over 12 guests need an approved sprinkler system (city application).
    • The owner, or the rental agent if one handles it, holds the permit (sec. 5-704). Renting without one: up to $50 per rental (sec. 5-705).
    • Apply at the Customer Service Center, 912 East Parkway, or by mail to P.O. Box 5, Gatlinburg TN 37738.
    • Outside city limits: Sevier County has required a yearly fire marshal permit and inspection since Jan 1 2024, $250 a year for 12 or fewer guests.
    What has to be posted
    "All hotels, motels, tourist homes or any other business engaged in over night lodging of guests shall post in a conspicuous place in each room thereof a notice plainly stating the price per day of each room"Municipal Code sec. 9-602

    We found no other rental-specific posting rule in the city code (the online copy runs through March 2022). Guests also register their correct names and addresses (sec. 9-601).

    Bears, noise and railings
    • Bear-resistant trash: since a 2025 ordinance, "any properties holding a Tourist Residency Permit" must use bear-resistant containers (due by June 30 2025), unless trash is stored inside a closed structure. Fine: $50 plus court costs.
    • Noise: unreasonably loud noise is banned, especially sound devices between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. or heard more than 50 feet away (sec. 11-402).
    • Guard rails at least 42 inches on tourist residency structures (sec. 12-903).
    Taxes
    • City gross receipts tax, 1.25%, paid by the owner, not added to the guest's bill, monthly by the 20th. The city: platforms "will NOT remit the City of Gatlinburg gross receipts taxes on your behalf."
    • City hotel tax, 3%, added to the guest's bill (sec. 5-602). The city says "a total of 12.75% (3% to the city, 9.75% to the State of TN)," and that platforms "will collect and remit these taxes."
    • Tennessee sales tax: 7% state plus local; cleaning and booking fees are taxable. Direct bookings, you collect it.
    • City and county business licenses, $15 each.

    House rules go in your listing

    For bookings made from Nov 20 2026, Airbnb wants every house rule in the listing itself; signs in the house can only repeat them. This notice only carries what Gatlinburg requires, so it adds no new rules. Put quiet hours, parking and the rest in your listing first.

    Official sources, read Nov 11 2026

    Plain-words summary, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, and the official page always wins. Checked Nov 11 2026.

    Help us get it right

    Host in Gatlinburg? If a rule, fee or form here has changed, or we missed something, tell us. We check every note against the official source before we change a page, and we put the new checked date on it.

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