Florida Dept. of Revenue - Discretionary Sales Surtax

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Discretionary Sales Surtax

In addition to the state sales and use tax rate, individual Florida counties may impose a sales surtax called discretionary sales surtax or local option county sales tax. Sales tax dealers must collect both discretionary sales surtax and the state sales tax from the purchaser at the time of sale, and remit the taxes to the Florida Department of Revenue. The Department distributes the discretionary sales surtax to the counties where the surtax is levied. The counties use the funds to pay for local authorized projects.

When is a transaction subject to discretionary sales surtax?

You must collect discretionary sales surtax when the transaction occurs in – or delivery is made into – a county that imposes a surtax, and the sale is subject to state sales and use tax. Use the information below to help you determine when to collect the surtax.

Discretionary sales surtax should be collected on transactions when:

The selling dealer delivers taxable goods or taxable services in or into a county with a surtax
The event for which an admission is charged is located in a county with a surtax
The consumer of electricity is located in a county with a surtax
The sale of prepaid calling arrangements occurs in a county with a surtax
The location or delivery of tangible personal property covered by a service warranty is within a surtax county
The rental of living or sleeping accommodations (transient rentals) occurs in a county with a surtax
A registered dealer owing use tax on purchases or leases is in a county with a surtax

When and at What Rate to Collect Discretionary Sales Surtax on Taxable Sales
If a selling dealer located in any Florida county	with a discretionary surtax	sells and delivers	into the county where the selling vendor is located,	surtax is collected at the county rate where the delivery is made,
	with or without a discretionary surtax	sells and delivers	into counties with different discretionary surtax rates,	surtax is collected at the county rate where the delivery is made,
	with or without a discretionary surtax	sells and delivers	into counties without a discretionary surtax,	surtax is not collected,
If an out-of-state selling dealer		sells and delivers	into a Florida county with a discretionary surtax,	surtax is collected at the county rate where delivery is made,
If an out-of-state selling dealer		sells and delivers	into a Florida county without a discretionary surtax,	surtax is not collected,

Tax Rates

The discretionary sales surtax rate depends on the county, where rates currently range from .5% to 1.5%; however, there are some counties that do not impose surtax. For a list of discretionary sales surtax rates, visit the Department's Forms and Publications webpage and select the current year Discretionary Sales Surtax Information (Form DR-15DSS) under the Discretionary Sales Surtax section, updated yearly in November.

Limit on Amount of Surtax Charged

Discretionary sales surtax applies to the first $5,000 of the sales amount on the sale, use, lease, rental, or license to use any item of tangible personal property. Tangible personal property is personal property that you can see, weigh, measure, or touch; or that is in any manner perceptible to the senses, including electricity. The $5,000 cap does not apply to transactions such as charges for prepaid calling arrangements, sales of admissions, transient rentals, or sales of services.

File and Pay Tax

Sales tax dealers pay discretionary sales surtax along with state sales and use tax on the Sales and Use Tax Return (Form DR-15 PDF Icon ). For more information visit the Department's Sales and Use Tax webpage.

Address/Jurisdiction Database

The Florida Department of Revenue's Address/Jurisdiction Database identifies the county for addresses in Florida. The database has an address look up feature that can be used to find the sales tax and discretionary sales surtax rate as well as other tax rates for Florida addresses.