Florida Sales Tax on Vacation Rentals: §212.03 Explained

Florida charges a 6% state sales tax on rent for any home, condo or room rented for six months or less, and the owner or manager who receives the rent must register with the Department of Revenue, collect it from guests and file returns. The county discretionary sales surtax is added on top and filed the same way. Rentals under a bona fide written lease for longer than six months are exempt.

What does §212.03 tax?

Section 212.03(1)(a) declares that renting living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations is a taxable privilege, and levies a tax “equal to 6 percent” of the total rental charged. The Department’s brochure GT-800034 (R. 10/25) applies that to rental periods of six months or less and lists single-family homes, condominium units, apartments, beach or vacation houses and timeshare units as examples.

Rule 12A-1.061 is the Department’s detailed rule for these rentals. Its definition of a transient accommodation in subsection (3)(f) includes a single-family dwelling, garage apartment, beach house or cottage, condominium parcel and mobile home held out to the public for transient guests. What counts as taxable rent, including cleaning and other fees, is covered in our guide to taxable charges on Florida vacation rentals.

Who collects and pays the tax?

Under §212.03(2), the tax is added to the rent, charged to the guest and due when the rent is received. The owner, lessor or person receiving the rent remits it to the Department. The same duties apply to anyone who collects rent on the owner’s behalf.

Rule 12A-1.061(9)(a) spells out the manager’s role. A management company that collects rent as the owner’s representative must register as a dealer and remit the tax; if the company never touches the rent, the person who receives it must register. Rule 12A-1.061(9)(b)2 adds that the owner stays liable if the manager fails to pay and the Department cannot collect from the manager.

How do I register with the Department of Revenue?

Register before the first booking. The Department’s account registration page says a business selling taxable goods or services must register as a sales and use tax dealer before it begins business, using the online Florida Business Tax Application or the paper Form DR-1 (R. 01/26). Form DR-1 has a specific line for those who “rent or lease living or sleeping accommodations to others for periods of six months or less.”

The brochure says each place of business where transient accommodations are provided must be separately registered. A management company can register many owners’ properties at once on the Application for Collective Registration (Form DR-1C). In that case, the Department issues each owner a certificate of registration (Form DR-11) and mails it to the manager, and sends the owner a letter with the certificate number and the manager’s name.

How often do I file, and when is it due?

Returns go on the Sales and Use Tax Return, Form DR-15, with transient rental sales tax and surtax on Line D. Under §212.11(1)(b), the default is a monthly return. Section 212.11(1)(c) lets the Department require less frequent filing for smaller accounts:

Tax remitted in the prior four quarters	Filing the Department may require
$100 or less	Annual return and payment
$500 or less	Semiannual return and payment
$1,000 or less	Quarterly return and payment
Over $1,000 up to $12,000	Quarterly return with monthly payment

GT-800034 sets the calendar. Returns and payments are due on the 1st and late after the 20th of the month following the reporting period, and a return is required even when no tax is owed. If you file and pay electronically on time, you can keep a collection allowance of 2.5% of the first $1,200 of tax due, up to $30.

Electronic payments must be started, with a confirmation number, by 5 p.m. ET on the business day before the 20th. If you close or sell the rental business, the brochure says to file a final return and pay all tax within 15 days.

Which rentals are exempt?

The six-month line is the main one. Section 212.03(4) exempts a person with a bona fide written lease for longer than six months of continuous residence. It also exempts someone who has lived in the same accommodation continuously for more than six months and paid the tax for the first six; GT-800034 says those rent payments are exempt from the seventh month on.

Rule 12A-1.061(17) sets what the written lease must contain:

• The exact start and end dates of the occupancy.
• A statement giving the tenant complete and exclusive use of the property for the whole lease period.
• The lease must run longer than six “months” as the rule defines them. A lease starting on the 1st must run through the 1st of the seventh month.

The same subsection says a lease does not qualify if it lets the owner rent the unit back for short stays, lets the tenant cancel without penalty and without a significant change in circumstances, or lets the tenant avoid paying the stated rent. The Department will also presume no bona fide lease was intended when a unit is leased more than twice in a calendar year on six-month-plus leases and no tenant actually stays more than six months.

Two other groups are exempt under §212.03(7)(a). Full-time students at a postsecondary institution must give the owner a written statement from a school official, and active-duty military personnel must provide official orders or an overflow certificate, according to GT-800034.

What records do I need to keep?

Rule 12A-1.061(21) requires anyone who collects rent on transient accommodations to keep copies of every lease or rental agreement, receipts for rent paid and any exemption certificates. They must be kept until the tax can no longer be assessed under §95.091(3), which generally gives the Department three years after the tax or return is due, or the return is filed, whichever is later. Owners and managers who collectively register must also keep their written agency agreement for that period under Rule 12A-1.061(9)(b)4.

Does the county tax go on the same return?

Not in the counties we serve. The county surtax always goes to the Department with the 6% state tax, but the DR-15TDT chart lists every county with a Florida Hosts county page as collecting its own tourist development tax. Those owners file a county return as well, covered in our tourist development tax guide and county surtax guide.

How Florida Hosts helps

We help owners open their Department of Revenue and county tax accounts along with the DBPR license and any local registration, and we run the property with our own cleaning and maintenance staff and 24/7 guest communication. For furnished stays over a month and annual leases, we manage the property and work with licensed brokers for the leasing. Our services page covers each option, and a free rental projection arrives within one business day.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your filing requirements with the Florida Department of Revenue or a tax professional.