Sales Taxes in The United States - By Jurisdiction - Florida

Florida

Florida has a general sales tax rate of 6%. Miami-Dade County, like most Florida counties, has an additional county sales surtax. Miami-Dade's surtax is 1%. The tax is imposed on the sale or rental of goods, the sale of admissions, the lease, license, or rental of real property, the lease or rental of transient living accommodations, and the sale of a limited number of services such as commercial pest control, commercial cleaning, and certain protection services. There are a variety of exemptions from the tax, including groceries and prescriptions.

Sales tax and discretionary sales surtax are calculated on each taxable transaction. Florida uses a “bracket system” for calculating sales tax when the transaction falls between two whole dollar amounts. Multiply the whole dollar amount by the tax rate (6 percent plus the county surtax rate) and use the bracket system to figure the tax on the amount less than a dollar. The Department of Revenue has rate tables (Form DR-2X) to help you.

A "discretionary sales surtax" may be imposed by the counties of up to 1.5%, charged at the rate of the destination county (if shipped). This is 1% in most counties, 0.5% in many, 1.5% in a few such as Leon, and 0.25% in one county (Alachua). A few counties have no additional surtax. Most have an expiration date, but a few do not. Only the first $5,000 of a large purchase is subject to the surtax rate. Most counties levy the surtax for education or transportation improvements.

There are annual sales tax holidays, such as a back-to-school holiday on clothing, books, and school supplies under a certain price, as well as one in June 2007 to promote hurricane preparedness. The 2008 Legislators did not enact any sales tax holidays.

Florida also permits counties to raise a "tourist development tax" of up to an additional 13% for stays of 6 months or less on any hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment, apartment motel, roominghouse, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, condominium, or timeshare resort.