Airbnb and specific hosting licenses, taxes, etc

[Suzanne B.]

Hello, I am curious to see if anyone has a link to somewhere that lists specific state/city requirements for Airbnb hosts.  I live in Memphis, and I know that in Nashville this year they passed a law requiring Airbnb hosts to obtain an annual license and also they are now required to pay hotel-type occupancy taxes.  I cannot find anything online about laws for Memphis - not sure if that means there are none, or if I'm missing something.  I have asked around to acquaintances here including people that host, and no one knows.  I have asked Airbnb and they refuse to give "legal advice" and just say to ask my local government.   Airbnb has a list online of certain cities that have such laws, but it may not be up to date.  

Before going through the headache of having to contact local govt departments to try and get an answer, I thought I would try asking on here....  Thank you.  

[Rod Witmond]

Hi Emily, Been looking into this both personally and professionally. Professionally, my company works with vacation homeowners and property managers across the US - what you describe is something of a black hole where it seems the market just moved faster than the regulators who have been in catch-up mode. There aren't many places this kind of information is available online. From a personal perspective, recently been looking into various south east locations as a prospective owner (I live in Atlanta) and Memphis is one of my target cities (along with Nashville and much of Florida Gulf Coast). Lot easier to get information for Florida Gulf Coast than Memphis or Nashville.