Florida sales tax is deceptively simple at the surface, 6% state rate, plus discretionary county surtaxes ranging from 0% to 2%, collected by businesses from customers and remitted to the Florida Department of Revenue. Below the surface, it has the usual sales tax complexity: what's taxable and what's exempt, when nexus triggers a collection obligation, how to handle online sales, what records to keep, and when audits are most likely. Getting it wrong usually doesn't result in dramatic penalties, it results in quiet accumulation of under-collected tax that becomes a problem on audit, often years later.
Most small businesses either over-collect (and give customers reason to complain) or under-collect (and create audit liability). A small amount of attention to sales tax setup at the start, combined with automation through accounting software, prevents most of the common issues. This is one of the areas where a little discipline early pays for itself many times over.
What Is Taxable in Florida
Florida taxes most tangible personal property and a specific list of services. The key is knowing which category your sales fall into.
| Category | Taxable? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Retail goods (clothing, electronics, furniture) | Yes | Standard 6% + county surtax |
| Restaurant meals and prepared food | Yes | 6% + surtax; grocery food is generally exempt |
| Commercial rent | Yes (at reduced rate) | Reduced to 2% state rate effective 2025 |
| Professional services (legal, accounting) | No | Generally exempt |
| Admissions (events, gyms, amusements) | Yes | 6% + surtax |
| Cleaning services (nonresidential) | Yes | 6% + surtax |
| Detective and security services | Yes | 6% + surtax |
| Motor vehicle and boat repairs | Yes (on parts, not labor) | Labor exempt; parts taxable |
| SaaS and digital goods | Varies | Complex; case-by-case analysis required |
County Discretionary Sales Surtax
Beyond the 6% state rate, most Florida counties impose a discretionary surtax. Collecting the correct combined rate depends on where the sale occurs.
County Rate Varies by Location
As of 2025, county surtaxes in Florida range from 0% (a few counties) to 2% (the maximum). Miami-Dade and Broward are 1%; Hillsborough was 1.5%; rural counties may have 0.5% or 0%. The rate applies to the first $5,000 of a single item; above that, only the state 6% applies.
Sourcing Rules Determine Applicable Rate
For most sales, the surtax rate is based on where the buyer takes delivery, not where the seller is located. A Miami-based business delivering to a customer in Orange County collects Orange County's surtax, not Miami-Dade's.
The $5,000 Cap Applies Per Item
The surtax only applies to the first $5,000 of any single sale of tangible personal property. For a $10,000 piece of equipment in a 1% surtax county, you collect 1% on the first $5,000 (= $50) plus 0% on the remaining $5,000, total surtax $50. State 6% applies to the full amount.
Rates Change
County surtax rates change periodically as counties approve or expire special tax levies. Check the Florida Department of Revenue's published surtax chart before setting up a new location or changing a system; a rate change missed can result in years of under- or over-collection.
The Nexus Question
Nexus is the legal connection between your business and a state that creates a sales tax obligation. For Florida-based businesses, in-state nexus is obvious; for out-of-state sellers, the analysis is more nuanced.
Florida adopted economic nexus rules in 2021. Out-of-state sellers with more than $100,000 in taxable sales to Florida customers in the prior calendar year must register, collect, and remit Florida sales tax. This applies even with no physical presence. E-commerce businesses selling into Florida frequently hit this threshold and need to register. The reverse is also true, Florida businesses selling into other states may have economic nexus elsewhere, triggering multi-state collection obligations.
Registration and Filing Cadence
Every Florida business making taxable sales must register. The filing frequency depends on estimated collection volume.
Filing Frequency by Collection Volume
- Monthly: over $1,000 per month in tax
- Quarterly: $501–$1,000 per month in tax
- Semi-annual: $101–$500 per month in tax
- Annual: $100 or less per month in tax
- Filings due by 20th of the following period
- Electronic filing required for most businesses
- Collection allowance (up to $30 per return) for timely filing
Common Sales Tax Filing Mistakes
- Collecting tax but not registering
- Using the wrong combined rate for customer's location
- Missing the $5,000 surtax cap on large single items
- Filing late (10% penalty + interest, plus loss of collection allowance)
- Not charging tax on taxable services (cleaning, security, etc.)
- Charging tax on exempt sales (exempt customer, exempt product)
- Not maintaining exemption certificates for tax-exempt customers
Exemptions and Resale Certificates
Not every sale is taxable. Exempt customers (resellers, nonprofits, government) and exempt products exist; both require documentation.
- Florida Annual Resale Certificate (DR-13), kept on file for each reseller customer
- Florida Consumer's Certificate of Exemption (DR-14), for nonprofits, government entities
- Exemption certificates renewed annually and kept in vendor/customer file
- Out-of-state resale certificates, Florida accepts multi-state resale certificates in some cases
- Documentation of exempt use (e.g., equipment used in manufacturing)
- Records of exempt sales maintained with the certificate and sale transaction linked
- Annual review of on-file certificates for currency and validity
Florida sales tax rewards systems and punishes casualness. The businesses that set up sales tax correctly in their accounting software, correct combined rates by delivery location, automatic calculation on invoices, timely monthly or quarterly filing, maintained exemption documentation, treat sales tax as a routine operational function. The businesses that handle it casually eventually face an audit, and the audit almost always finds issues that accumulated silently for years. The discipline is manageable; the consequence of skipping it is disproportionately expensive.
Use sales tax automation software (Avalara, TaxJar, or the built-in tax engines in Shopify, Square, QuickBooks) if you have any volume or multi-state sales. The cost, typically $20–$100 per month for small businesses, is much less than the cost of one sales tax error discovered on audit. The automation handles rate changes, multi-state calculations, and in many cases filing itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most professional services (legal, accounting, medical) are exempt. A specific list of services is taxable, cleaning of nonresidential property, detective and security services, commercial pest control, nonresidential parking, and a handful of others. If you offer one of those services, you collect. If your service isn't on the list, you generally don't.
You may have economic nexus in other states based on their thresholds (typically $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions per year). Each state with nexus requires you to register, collect their rate, and file with them. Multi-state sales tax is a common reason to adopt an automation platform.
The Florida Department of Revenue examines your sales records for a 3-year period (sometimes longer). They sample transactions, check exemption certificates, verify combined rates, and reconcile reported sales tax to bank deposits. Findings result in assessed tax, interest, and penalties. Clean records and a consistent process dramatically shorten an audit and reduce findings.
Yes. Florida treats unremitted sales tax as a trust fund, money collected from customers but not remitted to the state. The responsible officers of the business can be held personally liable for unremitted trust fund taxes, including when the business closes. This is why sales tax, once collected, should never be used for operating cash flow.
Sources
- SMAART Company. Florida Small Business Sales Tax Frameworks, 2026.
- Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax, GT-800013, 2025. floridarevenue.com
- Florida Department of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax, GT-800019, 2025. floridarevenue.com
- Florida Department of Revenue. Out-of-State Businesses Selling Into Florida, 2025. floridarevenue.com
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