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How to Start a Short-Term Rental Business in Nevada

Last verified: November 5, 2026

If you want to start an Airbnb in Las Vegas, the first question is not your business structure, it is your address and whether you live in the house. The City of Las Vegas licenses a short-term rental only if the owner lives on the property during every stay, the home has no more than three bedrooms, and it sits at least 660 feet from any other licensed short-term rental and 2,500 feet from a resort hotel. Unincorporated Clark County stopped taking applications after August 21, 2023, and its licensing system is the subject of a federal lawsuit. Buying an investment house to rent whole generally does not fit the City of Las Vegas rules.

This guide is for owners who can meet those rules or who are looking at another Nevada jurisdiction. It covers which rules apply where, what the state requires on top (state business license, lodging tax, listing numbers), the Nevada LLC steps and a cost table with sources. Rentals of 31 days or longer are not "short-term" under the City of Las Vegas definition, so a monthly lease is a different business with different rules.

What You Need Before You Start

  • Property control: in the City of Las Vegas the license applicant must own the property, and the city asks for ownership documents if a corporation, LLC or trust holds title.
  • Written HOA permission: if the home is in an HOA, the City of Las Vegas requires it in writing. State law also bars authorizations in a common-interest community unless its governing documents expressly allow short-term rental.
  • Identification: a Nevada ID whose address matches the rental address (City of Las Vegas requirement), plus your Social Security number or EIN.
  • Floor plan and site plan: the city asks for both, including the owner's bedroom, fire extinguisher locations, egress markings and two parking spaces.
  • A 24-hour local contact: a person who can respond at any hour. State law requires a designated local representative available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • A list of the platforms where you will advertise, which the city asks for on the license application.

Step 1: Find Out Which Rules Apply to Your Address

Short-term rental rules are local, but one state law sets the floor for the biggest market. Assembly Bill 363 (2021) applies to counties with 700,000 or more residents (today that means Clark County) and to cities with 25,000 or more residents inside such a county, which covers Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas. As enrolled, the bill says anyone renting a home or a room for transient lodging must hold both a local authorization and a state business license, and both numbers must appear in every listing.

The bill also sets minimums that local ordinances must meet:

  • 660 feet between rentals and 2,500 feet from a resort hotel
  • No more than 16 guests per unit
  • A minimum stay of 1 night in an owner-occupied unit and 2 nights otherwise
  • No rentals in apartment buildings, and a cap on how many authorizations one state business license can hold (the local ordinance sets it, at no more than five)

The local ordinance can be stricter, and the Las Vegas and Clark County rules below are. If your property is outside Clark County, such as Reno, Sparks or Washoe County, AB363 does not apply by its terms, so ask the city or county planning office directly before you spend money.

City of Las Vegas

The city's rules sit in its short-term residential rental instructions (Las Vegas Municipal Code 6.75 and Unified Development Code 19.12.070). To be eligible, the home must:

  • Be owner-occupied throughout the rental period, so you live there while guests stay
  • Have no more than three bedrooms
  • Be at least 660 feet from any other short-term residential rental and 2,500 feet from a resort hotel
  • Be in a zoning location that allows the use (the city lists Summerlin, Sun City Summerlin, Town Center, Skye Canyon, Cliff's Edge, Symphony Park, Grand Canyon Village and Form-Based Code properties as prohibited)

The approval runs in three stages and you may not rent until all three are done. First, a free Conditional Use Verification (CUV) application through the city's Citizen Portal with a justification letter, site plan and floor plan. Second, a Code Enforcement home inspection (702-229-6615, option 3) that checks bedrooms, life-safety items and permits for past additions. Third, the business license application: a $500 annual license fee, liability insurance of at least $500,000, your platform list, the local 24-hour contact, a short-term rental affidavit and your Nevada ID. The city warns that a CUV is not an entitlement: if another rental is licensed within 660 feet before your license issues, your location can become ineligible. Licensing contact: 702-229-6281 or [email protected], on the City of Las Vegas business license page.

Unincorporated Clark County

Clark County's ordinance is Chapter 7.100 of the county code, adopted June 21, 2022. Under it, licensed rentals must be at least 1,000 feet apart and 2,500 feet from resort hotels, licenses are capped at 1% of eligible housing units in each unincorporated area, and each person or entity can hold one licensed unit. Maximum occupancy is two persons per bedroom or ten persons, whichever is less. The county's short-term rental FAQ lists a $45 application fee, a $150 inspection fee and an annual license of $750 for three or fewer bedrooms or $1,500 for more.

The hard part is availability. The county's own page says the application period is closed and that a complete application had to be in by August 21, 2023. A federal court enjoined the county from enforcing parts of the license requirement, and on October 7, 2026 the Ninth Circuit affirmed that the operators are likely to win on due process because the county never ran a functioning licensing process, while sending the case back to narrow the injunction. The panel noted that the county said it is willing to reopen its application portal. Read that as unsettled, not as permission: the appeals court called the original order too broad because it let anyone operate unlicensed, and it did not say the license rules are void. Before you rely on any of this, check the county short-term rental page or write to [email protected] (702-455-4252). Where it is in force, the county code sets fines of $1,000 to $10,000 per day for operating without a license.

Henderson, North Las Vegas and Other Cities

Henderson regulates short-term rentals in Chapter 114 of the Henderson Municipal Code and licenses them through its City Clerk, with its own spacing, occupancy and fee rules. North Las Vegas has its own licensing office. Neither city's site could be read when this page was checked, so the table below gives no figures for them: call the City of Henderson business license office or the City of North Las Vegas business licensing office and ask for the spacing rule, the owner-occupancy rule and the fee in writing.

Step 2: Decide Whether You Need an LLC

An LLC separates the business from your personal assets, and it is the usual choice for a rental open to guests. Two limits are worth knowing before you form one. An LLC does not replace insurance, and in the City of Las Vegas the license applicant must be the property owner, so an LLC that does not hold title will not be the licensee. Moving a mortgaged home into an LLC can raise issues with your lender, which is a reasoned caution rather than a rule we can cite: ask your lender and a Nevada attorney before you change title.

Operating as a sole proprietor means no filing with the Secretary of State, but you still need the state business license and you carry personal liability. Whether an S-corporation election ever pays off for a single-property host is a question for a CPA: we give no income threshold because we could not source one.

Step 3: Form the LLC (If You Choose That Route)

Pick and check the name. The name must include an LLC indicator and be distinguishable from every other entity on file. Search at the Nevada Secretary of State entity search.

Optionally reserve it. A name reservation lasts 90 days and costs $25 under the Secretary of State name reservation page (checked in a Wayback Machine snapshot of September 26, 2026).

Appoint a registered agent. The agent needs a physical Nevada street address. Rules and fees for agents are in NRS Chapter 77. If you live outside Nevada you will need a commercial agent, and our comparison of Nevada LLC services shows the options.

File the Articles of Organization. File through the Nevada Secretary of State ORION portal. The filing fee is $75 under NRS 86.561. The initial list is $150 (NRS 86.263) and the state business license is $200 (NRS 76.100), so the first-year state total is $425. Expedited service is available for a higher fee: NRS 225.140 caps the fee at $125 for 24 hours, $500 for 2 hours and $1,000 for 1 hour, and the Secretary of State sets the actual schedule, so confirm it when you file.

Keep an operating agreement. You do not file it with the Secretary of State. It records who owns what and who decides, which matters most if you have a co-owner or a lender.

Step 4: Keep the State Business License Current

Every host needs the state business license under AB363, and its number must appear in your listings. The fee is $200 for an LLC or other non-corporate entity and $500 for a corporation, renewed every year by the last day of your anniversary month, with a $100 penalty if late, per the Secretary of State state business license FAQ (Wayback Machine snapshot of October 14, 2026). An LLC also files an annual list ($150) by the same date. The recurring state cost for an LLC is therefore $350 a year, before any city or county fee.

Step 5: Register for Lodging Tax

This is where the old advice on this page was wrong. The Department of Taxation says the tax on room rental is Lodging Tax and that the county commissioners impose and collect it. A guest paying for a night in your home pays lodging tax, also called room tax, not sales tax on the room. The rate depends on the location. The City of Las Vegas states 13.38% inside the Primary Gaming Corridor and 13.00% outside it (room tax instructions, revised March 2026), collected for the first 30 days of a stay, shown as a separate charge and paid by the 15th of the following month. Paying on time earns a 2% collection discount, and late payment adds a 10% penalty plus 1.5% interest a month.

For homes in unincorporated Clark County, file the county's monthly transient lodging tax return. Platforms such as Airbnb may collect some of the tax for you, but what that covers and what you still report differs by jurisdiction: the City of Las Vegas packet has an appendix for licensees reporting facilitator revenue, so read it before your first return.

A sales tax permit is a separate matter. It costs $15 per location according to the Department of Taxation start-a-business page, and you would need one only if you also sell goods that carry sales tax. Ask the Department whether anything you sell besides the room does.

Step 6: Insure the Property

The City of Las Vegas requires liability coverage of at least $500,000, verified through a third-party service, and AB363 requires insurance that identifies the property as used for transient lodging, with the minimum amount set by the local ordinance. Do not assume a standard homeowner policy qualifies. Ask your insurer in writing whether paid guest stays are covered and get a certificate that names short-term rental use. The cost depends on your property and insurer, so we do not give a figure.

Step 7: Understand the Taxes on Your Rental Income

  • State income tax: Nevada has none, per the Department of Taxation.
  • Federal income tax: you still report rental income. The IRS says a rental normally goes on Schedule E, but if you provide substantial services for the guests' convenience, such as regular cleaning, linen changes or maid service, you report on Schedule C and may owe self-employment tax (IRS Publication 527). Many hosts clean between stays, so this decision is worth a CPA's time before your first return.
  • Commerce Tax: it applies only to Nevada gross revenue over $4,000,000 a year, with industry-based rates from 0.051% to 0.331% of taxable revenue above that line, per the Department of Taxation Commerce Tax page. A single home will not reach it.

Step 8: Launch the Listing the Legal Way

Put your county or city authorization number and your state business license number in every listing, and display both in the home, as AB363 requires. Post the 24-hour contact outside the rental if you are in the City of Las Vegas. Give guests written rules on occupancy, parking, trash and noise: AB363 requires educational information in the unit with the local representative's phone number, and the address must be visible from the road. Parties and events are prohibited under the bill's minimums.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Buying before checking eligibility: a home that fails the 660-foot or 2,500-foot test, or that is in a prohibited master-planned area, cannot be licensed in the City of Las Vegas at any price.
  • Treating the court case as a green light: the Ninth Circuit affirmed that an injunction was warranted but sent it back to be narrowed, and said it should not let anyone operate unlicensed. Operating unlicensed is a bet on a lawsuit.
  • Charging sales tax instead of lodging tax: guests owe room tax on stays, and the operator pays it from its own funds if it was not collected (City of Las Vegas instructions).
  • Letting the CUV lapse into a false sense of security: a CUV approval is not a license, and another rental licensed within 660 feet first can end your eligibility.
  • Skipping the number in the listing: AB363 requires both numbers in every listing, including ones a platform creates.

Costs With Sources

ItemCostSource
Nevada LLC articles of organization (one time)$75NRS 86.561
Initial list, LLC (one time)$150NRS 86.263
State business license, LLC (one time, then yearly)$200NRS 76.100
Annual list, LLC (yearly)$150NRS 86.263
Name reservation (optional)$25 for 90 daysSecretary of State
City of Las Vegas short-term rental license (yearly)$500City of Las Vegas
City of Las Vegas CUV applicationFreeCity of Las Vegas
Clark County application, inspection and license (when open)$45 + $150 + $750 (three or fewer bedrooms) or $1,500 (more)Clark County
Sales tax permit (only if you sell taxable goods)$15 per locationDepartment of Taxation
Liability insurance, City of Las Vegas$500,000 minimum coverage; premium variesCity of Las Vegas
Lodging tax (paid by guests)13.38% or 13.00% in the City of Las VegasCity of Las Vegas

For a Nevada LLC holding a Las Vegas owner-occupied rental, the first-year government fees are $425 for the state plus $500 for the city license, or $925, before insurance, inspection fees if any and lodging tax. Henderson, North Las Vegas and Reno fees are not shown because we could not verify them.

Disclaimer

This article is informational and is not legal, tax or professional advice. Short-term rental rules in Nevada change often and differ by address, and Clark County's licensing is in active litigation. Confirm with the licensing office for your address and with a Nevada attorney and a CPA before you buy a property or file anything.

Sources

Keep exploring: related Nevada guides