Florida is one of the largest consumer markets in the country. It is also one of the more layered sales tax environments in the U.S. Businesses that set up tax collection once and never revisit it tend to find the gaps not when they look for them, but when an auditor does.
This guide covers the core mechanics of Florida sales and use tax as they stand in 2026, including what changed in 2025 and what those changes mean for businesses currently operating in the state.
Florida's general state sales tax rate is 6%. Specific transaction types carry different rates.
Most Florida counties impose a discretionary sales surtax on top of the state rate. Combined rates currently range from 6.3% to 8.3% depending on the buyer's county. For most transactions, the surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of the taxable sale.
The most consequential 2025 change is the repeal of state-level sales tax on commercial real property rental, effective October 1, 2025. Businesses leasing office or retail space in Florida no longer owe state sales tax on those payments. Local county surtax obligations vary and should be confirmed separately by location.
Use tax is the companion obligation to sales tax and applies when taxable goods or services are used or consumed in Florida without sales tax being paid at the time of purchase.
The most common triggers:
Use tax is calculated at the same rate as sales tax and reported on the same Form DR-15 return. It is consistently under-reported by businesses and consistently scrutinised in audits. The liability accumulates quietly and tends to surface at the worst time.
The discretionary sales surtax is a county-level addition to the state rate. It applies to most transactions subject to state sales or use tax and is based on the delivery location of the transaction.
The surtax rate for motor vehicles and mobile homes is an exception -- those are determined by the buyer's home address rather than delivery location. For all other transactions, the buyer's county governs.
The Florida Department of Revenue publishes updated county surtax rates annually in November through Form DR-15DSS. Businesses operating across multiple Florida counties need rate logic that adjusts to each delivery address, not a single assumed rate applied to all Florida transactions.
Florida uses destination-based sourcing. The applicable tax rate is determined by where the buyer is located, not where the seller ships from.
A business shipping from Orlando to a buyer in Broward County applies the Broward County combined rate. The same business shipping to Miami-Dade applies the Miami-Dade rate. Applying a flat statewide rate or a single county rate to all Florida transactions is a systematic error that generates the wrong amount on every transaction where the buyer's county rate differs.
Businesses required to register with the Florida Department of Revenue include:
Registration is free and completed online through the Florida DOR or via Form DR-1. Upon registration, the business receives a Certificate of Registration (Form DR-11) and a Florida Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax (Form DR-13). The Certificate of Registration must be displayed at the business location.
Florida taxes the sale of tangible personal property and certain services. Common exemptions include most unprepared food items purchased for home consumption, prescription medicines, medical supplies, and items purchased for resale with a valid resale certificate.
Exemption eligibility is transaction-specific. The same item can be taxable in one context and exempt in another -- a prepared food item sold in a restaurant is treated differently from the same item sold in a grocery store. Businesses cannot rely on category assumptions. They need transaction-level classification that reflects how each sale actually works.
Effective July 1, 2021, Florida requires businesses to use a specific rounding algorithm when calculating sales tax. The calculation must be carried to the third decimal place. If the third decimal is greater than 4, the tax rounds up to the next cent.
The rounding can be applied to the aggregate tax on all items on an invoice or to each individual line item. Florida also requires that sales tax be separately stated on each customer's invoice or receipt. The state tax and discretionary surtax may be shown as a combined total or itemised separately.
Florida's compliance rules shifted materially in 2025 and the county-level rate environment changes every year. The businesses that stay ahead of it are not the ones with the most resources -- they are the ones that treat the setup as a live system rather than a one-time configuration. CereTax helps businesses keep rate logic, registration status, and sourcing rules aligned with how the business actually operates today.
👉🏻 Talk to a CereTax Specialist to evaluate your Florida sales tax position.
👉🏻 Read next in this series: Tips for Filing Your Florida Sales Tax Return
