Illinois Short-Term Rental Laws by City (2026)
Short-term rental rules in Illinois are set city by city — a property that is legal to rent nightly in one town can be prohibited a few miles away. The table below covers 2 Illinois cities (2 human-verified against official sources), with each city's legal status, permit cost, and last-verified date.
Statewide short-term rental rules in Illinois
Illinois has no statewide short-term rental license and no law preempting local regulation — cities and counties (many with home-rule power, like Chicago) are free to permit, restrict, or ban STRs, and preemption bills (SB 1735 in 2017, HB 2919 in 2019) have repeatedly died in the General Assembly. The state's main role is taxation: the Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax (5% plus an additional 1%, each applied to 94% of gross rental receipts, roughly 5.64% effective) was expressly extended to short-term rentals, with 're-renters' taxable from July 1, 2024, hosting platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo required to register and remit as re-renters from July 1, 2025, and — effective July 1, 2026 (PA 104-0468) — platforms and re-renters folded into a new 'hotel marketplace facilitator' category: a facilitator with $100,000+ in Illinois gross rental receipts over the prior 12 months (the 200-transaction test was repealed) is deemed the hotel operator and must register and remit. Hosts who book direct must register with the Illinois Department of Revenue and file Form RHM-1 themselves. City and county rules apply on top of state law — check your local market's page.
Full statewide rules: permits, taxes & enforcement
Illinois has no statewide short-term rental license and no law preempting local regulation — cities and counties (many with home-rule power, like Chicago) are free to permit, restrict, or ban STRs, and preemption bills (SB 1735 in 2017, HB 2919 in 2019) have repeatedly died in the General Assembly. The state's main role is taxation: the Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax (5% plus an additional 1%, each applied to 94% of gross rental receipts, roughly 5.64% effective) was expressly extended to short-term rentals, with 're-renters' taxable from July 1, 2024, hosting platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo required to register and remit as re-renters from July 1, 2025, and — effective July 1, 2026 (PA 104-0468) — platforms and re-renters folded into a new 'hotel marketplace facilitator' category: a facilitator with $100,000+ in Illinois gross rental receipts over the prior 12 months (the 200-transaction test was repealed) is deemed the hotel operator and must register and remit. Hosts who book direct must register with the Illinois Department of Revenue and file Form RHM-1 themselves. City and county rules apply on top of state law — check your local market's page.
Reviewed by the STR Rule Watch research team against 10 official sources. How we verify data
Illinois statewide STR rules at a glance
| Legal status | Allowed, no permit required |
|---|---|
| Permit required | No |
| Renewal | No renewal required |
| Total occupancy taxes | ~6% of gross revenue |
| Insurance | None — Illinois imposes no statewide insurance mandate specific to short-term rentals. |
| Enforcement | State enforcement is tax-side only: the Illinois Department of Revenue administers registration, Form RHM-1 returns, and audits (records of taxable vs. |
| Current rules effective | 2026-07-01 |
State law & local authority
No preemption: Illinois does not limit local STR regulation. Home-rule municipalities (Art. VII, Sec. 6 of the Illinois Constitution) and non-home-rule units regulate STRs through local licensing, zoning, caps, and outright bans, and the state has never enacted an Arizona- or Tennessee-style preemption law. Preemption bills were introduced repeatedly (SB 1735 in the 100th GA, HB 2919 in the 101st GA — which would have barred municipalities from prohibiting STRs or regulating them 'based on classification, use, or occupancy' except for health/safety purposes) but none passed. A May 2025 federal TRO and Dec. 30, 2025 preliminary injunction against the Village of Glen Ellyn's STR ban (Blakelick Properties LLC v. Glen Ellyn, N.D. Ill., Penn Central takings theory) shows local bans can face constitutional challenges, but it is a property-specific ruling, not statewide preemption.
State-level taxes
| Tax | Rate | Who collects |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax (35 ILCS 145)5% plus an additional 1% (tourism), each imposed on 94% of gross rental receipts — an effective rate of about 5.64% of gross receipts — on rentals of less than 30 consecutive days; stays of 30+ days under a binding contract (permanent residents) are exempt. Effective July 1, 2024 (PA 103-0592), 're-renters' of hotel rooms are taxable; effective July 1, 2025 (PA 104-0006), short-term rentals and hosting platforms are expressly covered — through June 30, 2026 platforms meeting the re-renter thresholds ($100,000+ Illinois gross receipts or 200+ Illinois transactions in 12 months) had to register and remit for bookings they process. Effective July 1, 2026 (PA 104-0468, IDOR Bulletin FY 2026-33), re-renters and STR hosting platforms are 'hotel marketplace facilitators': the 200-transaction threshold is removed, and a facilitator with $100,000+ cumulative Illinois gross rental receipts in the preceding 12 months is deemed the hotel operator and must register with IDOR and remit on facilitated bookings. Airbnb collects (it lists 5.98-6.17% of the listing price for stays of 29 nights or less). Hosts taking direct bookings must register with IDOR and file Form RHM-1 (RHM-7 for multiple sites) themselves. Chicago-area add-ons administered by IDOR (Sports Facilities, MPEA) and municipal/county hotel taxes are local, not statewide. | 6% | varies |
Enforcement & penalties
State enforcement is tax-side only: the Illinois Department of Revenue administers registration, Form RHM-1 returns, and audits (records of taxable vs. non-taxable rentals must be kept at least 3.5 years). There is no state STR licensing agency or statewide registry; operational enforcement (permits, inspections, bans) happens at the municipal/county level. Generally applicable state safety laws cover STR dwellings: the Smoke Detector Act (425 ILCS 60) requires smoke alarms within 15 feet of sleeping rooms and on every story (new battery-powered alarms installed since Jan. 1, 2023 must have 10-year sealed batteries), and the Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act (430 ILCS 135) requires a CO alarm within 15 feet of every sleeping room.
No STR-specific state penalties. Failure to register, collect, or remit Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax exposes operators/platforms to standard IDOR tax penalties and interest; violations of the Smoke Detector Act are a Class B misdemeanor.
Statewide sources
- Illinois Dept. of Revenue Bulletin FY 2025-28 — Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax Updates for Hosting Platforms for Short-Term Rentalsretrieved July 11, 2026
- Illinois Dept. of Revenue Bulletin FY 2026-33 — Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax Changes, Effective July 1, 2026 (hotel marketplace facilitators)retrieved July 11, 2026
- Illinois Public Act 104-0468 (SB 3019 — hotel marketplace facilitator, 200-transaction threshold removed, eff. July 1, 2026)retrieved July 11, 2026
- Illinois Dept. of Revenue — Hotel Operators' Occupation Taxretrieved July 10, 2026
- Illinois General Assembly — Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax Act (35 ILCS 145)retrieved July 10, 2026
- Illinois Public Act 103-0592 (re-renters subject to hotel tax, eff. July 1, 2024)retrieved July 10, 2026
- Illinois General Assembly — Bill Status of SB 1749 (104th GA), Short-Term Rental Tax Act (stalled)retrieved July 10, 2026
- Illinois General Assembly — Bill Status of HB 2663 (104th GA), Short-Term Rental Occupation Tax Act (stalled)retrieved July 10, 2026
- Airbnb Help Center — Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Illinoisretrieved July 10, 2026
- Frost Brown Todd — Short-Term Rental Bans Are Back in the Takings Spotlight (Glen Ellyn, N.D. Ill.)retrieved July 10, 2026
| City | Status | Permit fee | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Permit required | $250 | July 10, 2026 |
| Springfield | Allowed | None | July 21, 2026 |
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This page is informational only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Regulations change frequently — verify current requirements with each jurisdiction before operating. HOA and condo rules may prohibit short-term rentals regardless of city law.