[GUIDE] Florida Sales Tax Tutorial

[Karen1]

To ALL Florida Hosts,

If anyone in the Tax Collector's Offices says that YOU are responsible for your state tax on Airbnb reservations, they are misinformed and giving you old information. Airbnb entered into an agreement with the State of Florida on December 1, 2015, which states that they will collect and remit Florida Transient Tax on all Florida reservations. This tax will be paid in a lump sum by filing one tax return per jurisdiction, with the total combined reservation revenue. Airbnb will not be filing individual forms (such as the DR-1C form) on behalf of hosts. Just know that there are still many people who do not know what Airbnb is, including staff in the local tax offices.  Even after two years, many are not aware of this agreement between the Department of Revenue and Airbnb.

Since there is a lot of confusion over the topic, I wrote a Florida Tax Tutorial.  This is accurate as of September 2017:

Basic Florida Tax Info:

The State of Florida taxes short-term rentals (housing rented for 182 days or less) with a Transient Tax. This amount varies per county and consists of the Florida base Sales Tax of 6% plus the county's Discretionary Surtax. Each county may or may not have a Discretionary Surtax. This tax ranges from .5 to 1.5%. The 2017 Discretionary Surtax by county is found here: 2017-Descretionary-Sales-Surtax-Rates-DR-15DSS.pdf

Additionally, each county may tax short-term rentals with Tourist Development Tax. As of June 2017, the Tourist Development Tax amounts were:

ALACHUA 5.0%, BAKER 3.0%, BAY 5.0%, BRADFORD 4.0%, BREVARD 5.0%, BROWARD 5.0%, CALHOUN none, CHARLOTTE 5.0%, CITRUS 5.0%, CLAY 3.0%, COLLIER 4.0%, COLUMBIA 5.0%, DESOTO 3.0%, DIXIE 2.0%, DUVAL 6.0%, ESCAMBIA 4.0%, FLAGLER 5.0%, FRANKLIN 2.0%, GADSDEN 2.0%, GILCHRIST 2.0%, GLADES 2.0%, GULF 5.0% Rate will return to 4% on 1/01/20, HAMILTON 3.0%, HENDRY 3.0%, HARDEE 2.0%, HERNANDO 5.0%, HIGHLANDS 2.0%, HILLSBOROUGH 5.0%, HOLMES 2.0%, INDIAN RIVER 4.0%, JACKSON 4.0%, JEFFERSON 2.0%, LAFAYETTE none, LAKE 4.0%, LEE 5.0%, LEON 5.0%, LEVY 2.0%, LIBERTY none, MADISON 3.0%, MANATEE 5.0%, MARION 4.0%, MARTIN 5.0%, MIAMI-DADE 6.0%, MONROE 5.0%, NASSAU 4.0%, OKALOOSA 5.0%, OKEECHOBE 3.0%, ORANGE 6.0%, OSCEOLA 6.0%, PALM BEACH 6.0%, PASCO 2.0%, PINELLAS 6.0%, POLK 5.0%, PUTNAM 4.0%, ST JOHNS 4.0%, ST LUCIE 5.0% Rate will return to 3% on 1/01/43, SANTA ROSA 5.0%, SARASOTA 5.0%, SEMINOLE 5.0%, SUMTER 2.0%, SUWANNEE 3.0% Rate will return to 2% on 7/01/21, TAYLOR 5.0%, UNION none, VOLUSIA 6.0%, WAKULLA 4.0%, WALTON 4.0%, WASHINGTON 3.0%

What tax does Airbnb collect and pay?

Tax is based on your nightly rate plus your cleaning fee. Each Airbnb confirmation email you receive will have the amount of tax collected for that reservation. To find a summary of the collected taxes, go to Hosting / Stats/ Earnings/ View Transaction History/ Gross Earnings and choose a date range.

For all Florida properties, Airbnb collects and remits the Transient Tax (the 6% plus your county's Discretionary Surtax).

Additionally, Airbnb collects the Tourist Development Tax in SOME counties because that tax is administered by the state for those counties. Currently the 24 counties are: Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Desoto, Dixie, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Levy, Madison, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Pasco, Sumter, Wakulla, and Washington.

Recently, other counties entered into their own agreements with Airbnb. Tourist Development Tax is now also collected and remited for Brevard, Broward, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Leon, Miami-Dade*, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Taylor, and the city of Surfside.  *Note, there are exceptions to Miami-Dade county. See source below.

What tax do you have to collect and submit?

At minimum, nothing (depending on your county) and at maximum, your county's Tourist Development Tax.

If you rent your Florida property by using only Airbnb, you must delete your account with the Florida Department of Revenue. You only need the FL DOR account if you offer your property on other platforms where taxes are not paid for you.  If you keep an account, DOR will expect payment. Do not pay double taxes!

If your county is not listed as one where Airbnb accepts and pays Tourist Development Tax, then you need to visit your county's Tax Collector's Office. They may require you to apply for an Occupational License and they will instruct you on how to pay the Tourist Development Tax.

Also, just recently, Airbnb stopped rounding to the nearest dollar and is not calculating payments, taxes and fees to the dollar and cents.  Please let me know if you find any errors in this information.

Sources: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/653/in-what-areas-is-occupancy-tax-collection-and-remittance-by-...

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/481/how-do-taxes-work-for-hosts

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/654/what-is-occupancy-tax--do-i-need-to-collect-or-pay-it

[Carmen1792]

Hello everyone,

I’m in the process of registering my property with Airbnb. Does anyone have any information as to the City of Miami-Gardens? Like what licenses  I need, taxes to be paid, etc? I contacted Airbnb, but they are not much help. Thank you.

[Lorna170]

@Carmen1792   You need to contact your county and state tax authorities, or make an appointment with a tax professional to help you get properly set up.  AirBnB is not going to be helpful as they do not have the information you need to be a legal STR.

[Donna1197]

Hello I believe the information above is no longer accurate. Okaloosa county changed the way the collect on Jan 1, 2022. My problem is Airbnb!! They have been collecting & remitting fine in the past but now I cannot seem to get any answers how to get them to remit the 5% directly to me so I can pay the county. All I seem to get is looping links that never actually allow me to change anything. I would greatly appreciate any help you could give.

[Karen1]

 

@Donna1197 ,  It appears that Airbnb does not remit the bed tax for your county based on their website. Maybe they did prior to 2022, but if they are not submitting payment to your county, they are not collecting it from your guests.  So, you will have to collect the tax from your guests and remit it monthly to your tax collector.

You can collect it in person when the guests arrive, collect it after check-in via the Resolution Center or you can absorb it in your rate. None of these options are ideal.

If however you qualify to use the Professional Tools, you can add a tax rate to the booking process. Go to the Airbnb Help center and search for: How to add taxes to listings. Hope this info helps.

 

- Karen Rigel 

[Kam608]

Do you know if I have to file a state return if I Airbnb my guest room in my primary residence or just federal? Kinda off subject but I can’t find any info. Thanks!

@Karen1 @Donna1197 @Lorna170 @Carmen1792 

[Jennifer3285]

I’m coming into this thread so late but I’m in the process of setting up my business license for STR but when I get to the “state tax number or proof of exemption” I’m unsure what to do? I only use Airbnb/VRBO etc for my listings so what do I put here to move forward with the business licensing? 

[Karen1]

@Jennifer3285 If VBRO collects and remits the Florida sales tax for hosts like Airbnb does, then you don't need a state license. So on your local business application, just write in "Airbnb/VBRO" in place of the state license number. 

[Gabriela435]

Hello Karen1, I called a company Avalara and they told me that even Airbnb collects and pay my taxes I have a monthly obligation to remit a form for the taxes , is that correct or they are just trying to get my business and pay the a monthly subscription? 

[Karen1]

Hello, @Gabriela435 .  I see you are from Miami. Depending on where your listings are, Airbnb may or may not collect and submit your local Toursist/Bed taxes. Each county has their own rules. If Airbnb does collect for you, I would be very surprised that you would be required to submit monthly forms. (You do need a local business license.)

It's best to call your county's tax collector's office and ask what they require. I have always found the staff at tax offices to be very helpful.

I don't use Avalara, but many hosts do use them. Don't know if they are just trying to get your business or not.

If you rent out only through platforms like Airbnb that collect and remit the state sales tax for hosts, then the Florida Dept of Revenue does not require you to submit any monthly forms. 

Good luck, Karen

[James2654]

If we rent out a detached accessory living space that didn't exist when we filed for our homestead exemption, and which is not part of our main living space, will renting it out affect our homestead exemption (and our capital gains exemption if we were to sell the property)?

[Karen1]

James,

The best I can say is maybe.  In St Johns county, when I applied for my business license, the tax collector's staff said the county appraiser's office would be notified. I too have a separate guesthouse that I rent on Airbnb. Several months later, the appraiser came out, and looked only at the guesthouse. I am not sure why, but our homestead exemption did not change. Maybe because the guesthouse was here when we bought the house over 20 years ago. Has someone else on this forum had a different experience??

[Jane3328]

Hi Karen, 

I know this post is fairly old, but am just reading through it now. It's my understanding that although Airbnb remits my occupancy tax to FL revenue, I still have to file a "zero" tax return. Ok, no problem doing that. But doesn't it seem ridiculous that Airbnb cannot issue hosts a receipt for taxes remitted, other than telling us to download our transaction history?  Are we simply supposed to trust Airbnb to make payments? Further, the FL dept of revenue can't seem to give me this information either. 

This is all terribly frustrating, especially for an individual host.  I am not an LLC or business with multiple listings. 

Jane 

[Karen1]

Hi, @Jane3328 . I'm not sure you fully understand all the tax requirements in Florida. First, the state sales tax is the tax that Airbnb collects and remits for all Florida hosts, and you do not submit anything to the state, not even a zero tax form. You will not receive an accounting of this tax, but if the FL Dept of Revenue trusts Airbnb to submit the correct taxes, I'm not going to question it.

Next is your local county tourist tax which is called a number of things from occupancy to bed tax. Each local goverment tax rate is different. Some local governments allow Airbnb to collect this tax for them and some don't. If your rental is in Manatee County, I believe you need to collect and submit this tax yourself.  It is this tax that you submit a form with the tax collected every month, even if you had zero days booked. (You also need a business license from your county which you renew annually.) I recommend you call your county tax collector's office to get the proper license and they will send you the tax forms. Usually the collector's office staff is very friendly and helpful in getting hosts set up, because they want that tax revenue.  Airbnb has no control over local governments and their regulations.  Hope this is helpful.

[Jane3328]

Hi Karen, 

I appreciate you taking the time to respond. 

I'm familiar with the county tax process and for what it's worth, Manatee County does a good job with it and I've had no problems with it at all. Suffice it say, however, when I initially registered with them, a staff member from that office told me I had to still file a zero tax return with the state.  I figured the local county tax folks would know, but my bad apparently. 

Two sayings come to mind: live and learn, and no good deed goes unpunished. 

Take care, 

Jane 

[Katherine948]

Hi @Karen1 !

I am new on the Airbnb, I wanted to ask you something if you can help me please. How do you remit your taxes for the County for future bookings, I know Airbnb remits the sales tax to FL Dept. of Rev., but how about the County? My question is to be specific: Once you collect payment for the booking, and reservation in paid in full, for example paid in May 2023, but the reservation is for September 2023,. Do you pay the Sales Tax/Discretionary Tax after the reservation is completed? or at the time is was paid in May for a June Return. I am confused, because if the reservation is paid in May, reservation is for September, and then let's say they cancel the reservation in July, customer is in title of full refund, but, you have already paid the tax back in June, ??  How do you collect back the tax from the county to refund the customer? 

Thank you for your help 🙂