Telluride & Mountain Village short-term rentals: licenses, filing and lodging tax.

Town of Telluride: license types

Telluride licenses rentals by type, with fees that depend on the type and, for Classic licenses, the number of bedrooms:

• Classic: non-residential zones, no night limit, with an administrative fee plus a per-bedroom charge.
• Residential and Limited: up to 29 rental nights a year.
• Lodging Establishment: hotels and lodges, charged per room.
• Mid-term and long-term rentals of 30 days or more don’t pay a fee.

Since October 24, 2023, one person or entity may hold an interest in at most two short-term rental units. Licenses don’t transfer to a new owner.

Telluride lodging tax: 17.22%

The 2.5% STR excise tax doesn’t apply to commercially assessed units. Rates as published by the Town of Telluride.

Who files in Telluride?

The town says it has no agreements with booking platforms for town taxes. Hosts file and pay town taxes monthly through Rentalscape, separately for each property, even if Airbnb or Vrbo handles the state-level taxes. That’s twelve returns a year per unit, so it needs to be part of your monthly routine.

Mountain Village

• Every short-term rental needs a town business license (type “vacation rental”), even just to advertise. Fines run $500 to $1,000 a day.
• Lodging tax totals 14.72%: town 4.5%, state 2.9%, county 1% and SMART 1.07% sales taxes, a 4% town lodging tax and SMART’s 1.25% visitor benefit tax. That total is our sum of the published layers, so confirm it with the town.
• The town says Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit town taxes. Self-managed owners default to annual filing (a $0 return if all bookings are on platforms) and pay tax on any direct bookings.

Unincorporated San Miguel County

Short-term rental permits sit under the county land-use code. Since February 4, 2026, owners who list only on platforms that remit tax no longer need a state sales tax license; owners with direct bookings still do.

What it means for your books

1. Record the gross booking, not the payout, with fees, cleaning and taxes booked separately.
2. Build the Telluride monthly filing into your close. Each property’s town return should tie to its own tax account every month.
3. Track ownership interests. The two-unit limit applies across entities, so keep your LLCs and properties clearly mapped.
4. File Mountain Village’s annual return even when every booking came through a platform.
5. Plan for the seasons. Winter and summer carry the year; cover spring and fall with a Cash Map.

Why mountain towns? I’m a mountain lover. I ski, I mountain bike, and I’d rather be outdoors in the mountains than almost anywhere. Helping owners here keep clear books is my kind of work. — Brian

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rules, caps, fees and rates change often in mountain towns, so confirm current requirements with your town or county and your CPA.