Florida is one of the largest travel markets in the world. Beautiful beaches, a warm climate, huge theme parks and tons of other attractions make Florida a travel destination for visitors from across the globe. In fact, tourism is Florida’s largest industry.
Because Florida is such a fantastic travel destination, especially for families, vacation rentals are an incredibly popular option for travelers, and the options are plentiful. Travelers seeking a vacation rental can browse tens of thousands of listing in Florida on the leading vacation rental websites like Airbnb and HomeAway.
Since tourism and vacation rentals are such a large part of the Florida economy, Florida has developed long standing and specific tax and license requirements. Vacation rentals are a major revenue source for state and county governments and so there is a particular focus on compliance in Florida. For those thinking of taking advantage of Florida’s large tourism market and offering their own homes as short-term rentals, below is an overview of the requirements for vacation rentals:
Sales & Tourist Taxes
Each rental property and rental transaction in the state is subject to the following taxes. These taxes are due on any rentals less than six months (185 days).
Florida Sales Tax: The state levies a 6 percent sales tax and each county in Florida levies an additional county sales surtax of 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent. Sales tax is paid to the Florida Department of Revenue.
County Tourist Development Tax: In addition to state sales tax, most counties in Florida levy a tourist development tax of up to 6 percent. The vast majority of counties collect their own tourist tax.
City Taxes: Florida cities generally are not authorized to charge sales or tourist tax. However, Panama City Beach and Miami Beach levy city specific taxes on vacation rentals.
Filing Frequency: The majority of these returns in Florida are due on a monthly basis. Some agencies will allow quarterly or semi-annual filing.
License & Registration Requirements
Vacation rentals in Florida are required to register and obtain at least several accounts and licenses, including:
- Florida Sales Tax Certificate
- County Tourist Tax Account
- Florida Resort Dwelling License (RD)
- City & County Business Tax Receipt (BTR): Many Florida counties and cities require a county BTR, which requires annual renewal.
In summary, each vacation rental owner in Florida is required to collect state sales and county tourist development tax, on each stay, which usually totals between 10 percent to a maximum of 13 percent. Taxes are usually due monthly to both the state and county. Before you can start renting and remitting these taxes, you will need to register for a series of state, county, and sometimes city, licenses.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Finance expert for the rapidly growing short-term lodging marketplace, Rob Stephens co-founded HotSpot Tax in 2002 out of his own necessity to understand and manage compliance with his rental property. In 2015, HotSpot Tax became part of the product lineup for Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based software delivering compliance solutions related to sales tax, VAT and other transactional taxes, and is in transition to the name Avalara MyLodgeTax. Today, Avalara MyLodgeTax is the leading provider of tax compliance solutions for the vacation rental industry. Avalara MyLodgeTax simplifies compliance and manages tax filings for thousands of vacation rental owners and managers across the United States. Avalara MyLodgeTax’s unique and powerful solution manages all aspects of tax compliance, including obtaining and renewing required licenses, filing tax returns, and tracking tax rate and law changes. Rob’s passion and know-how with complicated lodging tax compliance in the vacation rental industry has presented him with regular speaking engagements at industry events. Rob has owned and managed his own vacation rental in Vail, CO since 1999.
