Do I have to collect Florida sales tax, and how do I file it?

Florida's general sales tax rate is 6% (sales and use tax page). Most counties add a discretionary sales surtax; Sarasota County's is 1%, in place through 2039, so a sale in North Port is taxed at 7% (2026 surtax table, Form DR-15DSS). The surtax follows where the item or service is delivered, not where the seller is: goods delivered to a customer in another county carry that county's rate. For certain transactions only the first $5,000 of a sale is subject to the surtax. These rates, and the tiers and penalties below, are those in force for 2026; the Department had posted no change for 2027 by November 2026.

Every sale, admission, storage or rental in Florida is taxable unless exempt. That covers goods sold at retail, repairs to tangible property, rentals of equipment and vehicles, admissions and short-term rentals of living space. A short-term rental in Sarasota County also owes the county's 6% tourist development tax, paid to the county, not to the Department (tourist development tax rates). Some services are taxable too, among them investigative and protection services, interior cleaning of nonresidential buildings and nonresidential pest control (sales and use tax page).

Most professional services are not taxable: Florida exempts professional, insurance and personal service transactions where any goods are an inconsequential part with no separate charge (section 212.08(7)(v), Florida Statutes). An accountant, a lawyer, a consultant or a clinic collects nothing on its fees.

A contractor who builds, repairs or improves real property is the final consumer of the materials it uses: it pays sales tax when it buys them and does not charge sales tax on the finished job, unless the contract is a retail sale plus installation. A contractor who sells and installs items that stay tangible personal property after installation, such as machinery and equipment, charges tax on the full price, installation included (Rule 12A-1.051, Florida Administrative Code). Materials bought tax-free with a resale certificate and then used on a job owe use tax.

Florida taxed rent on offices, shops, warehouses and storage units for decades. That tax was repealed effective October 1, 2025: no state sales tax or county surtax applies to commercial rent for periods beginning on or after that date. Rent for periods through September 2025 is still taxable even if paid later, and tax on short-term living accommodations and parking continues (Tax Information Publication 25A01-04). Pages that still describe the tax on an office lease are out of date.

A business registers each location before it starts making taxable sales, online or on Form DR-1, and receives a certificate of registration and an annual resale certificate. Resale certificates expire December 31 and are reissued each year to active dealers; those who file electronically print their own (sales and use tax page).

A dealer who files and pays electronically and on time keeps a collection allowance of 2.5% of the first $1,200 of tax due on each return, at most $30. On time for an electronic payment means started, with a confirmation number, by 5 p.m. Eastern on the business day before the 20th.

Most new businesses start quarterly. The frequency then follows the tax collected in a year (sales and use tax page):

Each return, Form DR-15, is due on the 1st and late after the 20th of the month after the period, with an electronic payment started by 5 p.m. Eastern on the business day before the 20th: January's return is late after February 20, the January to March return after April 20. When the 20th is a weekend or holiday, a return filed by itself is on time the next business day, but the electronic payment still must be started by the business day before the 20th: February 20, 2027 is a Saturday, so January's return is on time through Monday, February 22, with its payment started by Friday, February 19 (sales and use tax page). A return is filed for every period, even with no tax due. A business that paid $5,000 or more in the state's prior fiscal year must file and pay electronically.

Use tax is owed when sales tax was not paid on something used in Florida: an item bought online or out of state without Florida tax, or an item bought tax-free for resale and then used in the business. It is reported on the same return.

A business outside Florida must collect Florida tax once its taxable remote sales into the state passed $100,000 in the prior calendar year. A Florida business selling into other states follows each state's own rules for remote sellers.

A late return or payment carries a penalty of 10% of the tax due, at least $50, and the $50 minimum applies even when no tax is due, so a missed zero return costs $50. Interest runs on late tax at a floating rate. A business required to file electronically that files on paper owes another $10 per return and $10 per payment (sales and use tax page).

A North Port plumbing contractor installs fixtures under construction contracts and also sells about $60,000 of fixtures a year over its counter.

• Counter sales: it charges 7% and collects $4,200 a year, more than $1,000, so it files monthly. On a month with $350 of tax, filing electronically and starting the payment by 5 p.m. Eastern on the business day before the 20th, it keeps an $8.75 collection allowance (2.5% of $350) and remits $341.25.
• Fixtures for resale: it buys counter stock tax-free with its resale certificate.
• Jobs: it pays sales tax on the pipe and fixtures it installs, as their final consumer, and charges no sales tax on the job price. A fixture taken from tax-free counter stock for a job is reported as use tax on that month's return.
• Its shop lease: no sales tax on rent since October 2025.

For the dates around it, see the Florida tax deadlines guide; monthly returns come straight from bookkeeping kept monthly.