Florida Department of Revenue, Sales and Use Tax on Rental of Living or Sleeping Accommodations, Page 1


Sales and Use Tax on
Rental of Living or
Sleeping Accommodations

GT-800034
R. 09/15




What is Taxable?
Florida imposes sales tax on rental charges or room rates paid for the right to use or occupy living or
sleeping accommodations. Rental charges include any charge for the use of items or services
required to be paid as a condition of the use or possession of the accommodation. Florida law refers
to these living or sleeping accommodations as “transient accommodations.” Most counties have a
discretionary sales surtax that is imposed on rentals of transient accommodations. Form DR-15DSS
provides a list of Florida counties and their surtax rates and is available in the “Forms and
Publications” section of the Department’s website at www.myflorida.com/dor.

In addition, many counties impose a local option tax on transient accommodations, such as a tourist
development tax, convention development tax, tourist impact tax, or municipal resort tax. Many of
these counties self-administer the taxes. When a county self-administers a transient rental tax, the
tax collected is reported and paid directly to the county. Form DR-15TDT provides a list of Florida
counties and their local option transient rental tax rates and is available on our website.

Contact your local county taxing agency to determine if your county imposes a local option tax on
transient accommodations and if you are required to report and pay this tax directly to your local
county taxing agency or if you should report and pay this tax to the Department.

Examples of transient accommodations include:

• Hotel or motel.

• Apartment house or any other multiple unit structure (for example: duplex, triplex,
quadraplex, or condominium).

• Roominghouse.

• Tourist or mobile home court (for example: trailer court, motor court, recreational vehicle
camp, or fish camp).

• Single-family dwelling.

• Garage apartment.

• Beach house or cottage.

• Cooperatively owned apartment.

• Condominium parcel.

• Timeshare resort.

• Mobile home.

• Vehicle or other structure, place, or location held out to the public to be a place where
living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations are provided to transient
guests in exchange for payment.

• Boats with a permanent fixed location at a dock and not operated on the water away from
the dock by the tenant.


Florida Department of Revenue, Sales and Use Tax on Rental of Living or Sleeping Accommodations, Page 2

What is Exempt?
Certain leases and rentals are exempt from sales tax. The owner or owner’s representative must
keep documentation to support the exempt transaction. These transactions are exempt:

• Rental charges or room rates paid by a person who has a signed, bona fide written lease
for a continuous residence longer than six months. If there is no written lease, and a
person has continuously resided at any one location for a period longer than six months
and has paid the tax on the rental charges or room rates due at that location for the first
six months, additional charges for continuous residence at that location are tax-exempt.

• Rental charges or room rates paid by a full-time student enrolled in an institution offering
postsecondary education. A written statement from an official of the student’s institution,
documenting that the student attends the institution full time, is proof of the student’s
full-time enrollment.

• Rental charges or room rates paid by military personnel who are on active duty and are
present in the community under official orders. Military personnel must provide a copy of
the official orders or an overflow certificate issued to active duty military personnel making
it necessary to occupy the accommodation.

• Rental of accommodations in a migrant labor camp.

Trailer Camps, Recreational Vehicle Parks, and Mobile Home Parks
Rental charges at trailer camps, recreational vehicle parks, and mobile home parks (except mobile
home lots regulated by Chapter 723, Florida Statutes) are taxable unless more than 50 percent of
the total rental units are occupied by tenants who have continuously resided there for more than
three months. When more than 50 percent of the total rental units available are occupied by tenants
who have continuously resided there for more than three months, the owner or owner’s
representative of the camp or park must file a Declaration of Taxable Status - Trailer Camps, Mobile
Home Parks, and Recreational Vehicle Parks (Form DR-72-2) with the Department to exempt the
rental units from the transient rental taxes. All rental charges for accommodations at a camp or park
are taxable until the owner or owner’s representative informs the Department the charges qualify for
exemption.

This exemption only applies to the rental units. Any retail sales or rentals of tangible personal
property (for example, non-grocery items and recreational equipment) or rentals of commercial
rental property are taxable.

Who Must Register to Collect Tax?
The owner of living or sleeping accommodations must register each taxable accommodation
separately. You can register to collect and report tax through our website. The site will guide you
through an application interview that will help you determine your tax obligations. If you do not have
Internet access, you can complete a paper Florida Business Tax Application (Form DR-1).

If the property owner uses a real estate brokerage firm, other entity, or other person (not an
employee) to collect or receive rent or license fees on behalf of the owners (lessors), then such firm,
entity, or person must register. Agents who are registering multiple properties for management and
rental may complete an Application for Collective Registration for Short-term Rental of Living or
Sleeping Accommodations (Form DR-1C). You must complete a separate application for each
county where property is located.

Subleases
Any person who leases a taxable accommodation and then subleases it to a third party must register
as a dealer and collect the applicable tax due on the subrents, subleases, sublets, or licenses. The
dealer may issue a copy of their current Florida Annual Resale Certificate to the property owner or
property owner’s representative to rent accommodations tax-exempt or take a credit for the tax paid to
the owner or owner’s representative on the original lease.
Florida Department of Revenue, Sales and Use Tax on Rental of Living or Sleeping Accommodations, Page 3

Any person, who cannot prove sales tax has been paid to the landlord, is liable to Florida for any
applicable tax, interest, or penalty due on the subleased property.

When is Tax Due?
Returns and payments are due the first day of the month and late after the 20th of the month following
each reporting period, whether you are filing monthly, quarterly, twice a year, or yearly. If the 20th
falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state or federal holiday, returns and payments will be timely if they are
postmarked on the first business day after the 20th. Florida law requires you to file a tax return
even if you do not owe sales and use tax.

Electronic Filing and Payment
We offer the use of our free and secure website to file and pay sales tax. You also have the option of
buying software from a software vendor. For more information on electronic filing and payment
options, visit our website.

You may voluntarily file and pay taxes electronically; however, if you pay $20,000 or more in sales
and use tax between July 1 and June 30 (the state fiscal year), you must use electronic funds transfer
(EFT) for the next calendar year to pay your taxes.

If you make tax payments using electronic funds transfer (EFT), you must initiate electronic payments
no later than 5:00 p.m., ET, on the business day before the 20th.

Penalty and Interest
Penalty - If you file your return or pay tax late, a late penalty of 10 percent of the amount of
tax owed, but not less than $50, may be charged. The $50 minimum penalty applies even if
no tax is due. Penalty will also be charged if your return is incomplete.

Interest - A floating rate of interest applies to underpayments and late payments of tax.
Current and prior period interest rates are posted on our website.

Reference Material
Tax Laws – Our online Revenue Law Library contains statutes, rules, legislative changes, opinions,
court cases, and publications. Search the library for Rule12A-1.061, Florida Administrative Code,
Rentals, Leases, and Licenses to Use Transient Accommodations.

Brochures – Download these brochures from our “Forms and Publications” page:

• Sales and Use Tax on Commercial Real Property Rentals (GT-800016)

• Sales and Use Tax on Tangible Personal Property Rentals (GT-800038)

• Taxation of Mobile Homes in Florida (GT-800047)
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Contact Us

Information, forms, and tutorials are available
on our website: www.myflorida.com/dor

To speak with a Department
representative, call Taxpayer Services,
8 a.m. to 7 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday,
excluding holidays, at 800-352-3671.

For written replies to tax questions, write to:
Taxpayer Services MS 3-2000
Florida Department of Revenue
5050 W Tennessee St
Tallahassee FL 32399-0112








To find a taxpayer service center near you,
go to: www.myflorida.com/dor/contact.html

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