Renting Out Property in Jamaica:
Licences, Room Tax and the 2027 GCT Change

Renting out a Jamaican property involves a licence that most hosts skip, a room tax whose rate depends on who you ask, and a tax change due in April 2027. The first and last of these matter most to anyone planning a purchase now.

Rental demand also depends on recovery from Hurricane Melissa, the Category 5 storm of October 2025, which hit Westmoreland, St Elizabeth and Manchester hardest and left some hotels closed nearly a year later. Our guide to everyday life in Jamaica covers the storm and the recovery.

The licence

Jamaica requires tourist accommodation to hold a Jamaica Tourist Board licence, issued through the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) after an inspection. A 2026 compliance guide says it costs nothing and has no expiry, while Expat Focus says it must be renewed annually, so ask TPDCo which applies. A Jamaican property outlet is blunt about the practice: most hosts do not have one.

The government tried to tighten this. A Jamaica Tourist Board Bill tabled in summer 2025, proposing mandatory registration and licensing for most short-term rental operators, stalled after industry pushback, as reported in April 2026. That leaves the sector in an odd place: a legal requirement that is widely ignored, and a proposed replacement that has not passed.

Room tax

Hosts are expected to collect the Guest Accommodation Room Tax and pay it to Tax Administration Jamaica, normally monthly. The rate is where sources diverge. A 2026 guide gives US$2 per occupied room per night for short-term rentals, another lists US$1 or US$2 depending on the number of rooms, and a compliance site gives US$2 for one to four bedrooms and US$10 for five or more. Airbnb does not collect Jamaican taxes for you, so the host must register and file. Ask Tax Administration Jamaica for the current schedule in writing.

The GCT change

On 29 April 2026 the House of Representatives approved the General Consumption Tax (Amendment of Schedules) Order, 2026, which brings short-term rentals, including Airbnb-style properties, into the General Consumption Tax from 1 April 2027. A Jamaican property outlet describes the change as moving tourist accommodation from a special 10% rate to the standard 15%, and advises modelling returns at 15%. That description has not been checked against the Order itself, so confirm the rate with Tax Administration Jamaica before using it in a calculation.

Other costs and limits

Rental income is subject to Jamaican income tax, and the annual property tax, in bands of 0.5% to 0.9% of assessed unimproved value, applies as covered earlier in this series. Strata or community by-laws can forbid short lets, and a compliance guide notes that the building's own rules may bar short letting before the government is involved. The Jamaican outlet also says the Rent Restriction Act may apply to long-term lets, which is worth checking with an attorney before choosing that route instead.

Yields

No verified yield data for Jamaican short-term rentals turned up in this research, so none is given here. Treat any figure a seller quotes as a claim, and ask for the operating history and tax filings of a comparable property.

What to do before buying

Decide whether the plan depends on short-term letting. If it does, model returns after GCT at the likely 2027 rate, factor in room tax and income tax, and confirm the licence position with TPDCo before relying on the income.