Florida Aircraft Sales Tax: Exemptions, Leases, and Filing

Florida aircraft sales tax runs 6% of the full purchase price, plus a county discretionary surtax that applies only to the first $5,000 of the price. The 6% rate covers everything the buyer gives up in the deal: cash paid, trade-in value, and any debt assumed. On a $2 million aircraft, the state portion alone is $120,000, while the county surtax tops out at a maximum of $75 even in the highest-rate counties.¹² County surtax rates range from 0.5% to 1.5% and are tied to where the aircraft is delivered or first used.

Several exemptions can erase that tax entirely, but each has strict conditions and the Department of Revenue audits aggressively. The sections below walk through what you actually owe, how use tax works on out-of-state purchases, the main exemptions, how leases and private sales are handled, filing mechanics, and the penalties for getting it wrong.

Buying Outside Florida and Bringing the Aircraft In

Florida’s use tax catches aircraft purchased elsewhere and then brought into the state. The rate is the same 6% plus county surtax. The key trigger is the six-month rule: an aircraft that enters Florida within six months of purchase is presumed to have been bought for use in Florida, and full use tax applies.³

If the aircraft was used in another U.S. state or territory for more than six months before entering Florida, the presumption flips and no use tax is due. Aircraft bought abroad get no six-month safe harbor; use tax applies whenever a foreign-purchased aircraft enters Florida, no matter how long you owned it first.⁴

Florida credits sales or use tax already paid to another state against what you owe here. Pay 4% elsewhere and you owe Florida the 2% difference. Taxes paid to a foreign country do not qualify for the credit.⁴

Nonresident Fly-Away Exemption

The most-used exemption lets a nonresident buy an aircraft through a Florida-registered dealer and fly it out of the state without paying any Florida tax. It is written into the sales tax statute itself, and every condition must be met at the time of delivery.¹

The buyer cannot be a Florida resident or keep a permanent home here. For a corporation, no officer or director can live in Florida. For an LLC or similar entity, no one with management authority over it can be a Florida resident.
The buyer cannot be engaged in any Florida employment, trade, or business in which the aircraft will be used.
The sale must run through a Florida-registered dealer, whether the dealer is selling its own aircraft or brokering for someone else.
The aircraft must leave Florida within 10 days of purchase, or within 20 days after repair or modification work is finished.

Signing the exemption affidavit at closing is only the start. Within 30 days of removing the aircraft, you must send the Department of Revenue receipts for fuel, tie-down, or hangar charges from out-of-state vendors proving the aircraft actually left. Within 90 days, you must send written proof the aircraft was registered, titled, or documented in another jurisdiction.¹ Miss either follow-up window and the exemption can be voided, even if the plane left on time.

The Department publishes a suggested affidavit form titled “Affidavit for Exemption of Aircraft Sold for Removal from the State of Florida by a Nonresident Purchaser.”⁵

Short Visits by Nonresident Aircraft

A separate rule protects aircraft owned by nonresidents that only pass through Florida. If the aircraft spends fewer than 21 total days in Florida during the six months after purchase, no use tax is due.⁶ You prove the limited time with out-of-state fuel receipts, tie-down invoices, and hangar bills that identify the specific aircraft.

Days spent in Florida solely for flight training, repairs, modifications, or refitting do not count against the 21-day limit and do not trigger use tax, as long as the Florida vendor provides written documentation identifying the aircraft and the work performed.⁶ That matters if you bought a plane out of state but want paint, avionics, or engine work done at a Florida shop before taking it home.

Common Carrier and Over-15,000-Pound Exemption

Sales and leases of fixed-wing aircraft with a maximum certified takeoff weight above 15,000 pounds are exempt from sales and use tax when the aircraft is used by a common carrier operating under FAA Part 121 or Part 129.⁷ Scheduled airlines and certain foreign air carriers qualify. Charter operators and private flight departments without a Part 121 or 129 certificate do not, even if their aircraft would otherwise meet the weight threshold.

A separate exemption exists for aircraft used in interstate or foreign commerce, but auditors demand detailed flight logs and will cross-check them against fuel purchases and ADS-B tracking data. Claiming a commerce-based exemption without strong documentation is a reliable way to trigger an assessment.

Repair and Maintenance Tax Break

Labor and replacement parts used to maintain or repair aircraft with a maximum certified takeoff weight over 2,000 pounds are exempt from sales tax. The exemption covers fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft and includes replacement engines, components, and installed equipment.⁸ The 2,000-pound threshold brings in most general aviation aircraft above the lightest trainers and sport planes.

The shop must record the aircraft’s N-number and its maximum certified takeoff weight on the invoice to document the exemption.⁸ Owners of light aircraft under 2,000 pounds get no break; both parts and labor are taxable at the full rate.

Leases and Related-Party Leasebacks

Lease and rental payments on aircraft carry the same 6% sales tax plus the applicable county surtax, with the surtax again limited to the first $5,000 of each payment. Leasing an aircraft to a related entity, such as a management LLC or subsidiary, draws particular scrutiny. The Department of Revenue examines whether lease payments actually move, whether the lease has genuine economic substance, and whether an aircraft bought tax-free under a resale certificate was later diverted to the owner’s own use.

When an aircraft purchased tax-free for resale or re-rental ends up used by the owner or a related entity, the Department can assess use tax on the full aircraft value. The approach is substance over form, so a signed lease sitting in a drawer will not save a transaction whose economics tell a different story.

Private Sales Still Count

Buying from another individual rather than a dealer does not avoid the tax. Florida’s occasional or isolated sale exemption, which shelters many private sales of personal property, specifically excludes aircraft. Any aircraft required to be registered, titled, or documented is taxable on sale regardless of whether the seller is a dealer or a one-time private owner.⁹ The buyer is responsible for reporting and paying the tax directly when no dealer is in the transaction.

How and When to File

The reporting form is the DR-15AIR, “Sales and Use Tax Return for Aircraft.” It asks for the aircraft make, model, year, serial number, and N-number, together with the purchase price, any trade-in allowance, the Florida county where the aircraft is located, and the computation of tax, surtax, and any credit for tax paid to another state.⁴ A copy of the bill of sale showing the price and any tax already paid must be attached.

The return and payment are due on the first day of the month following purchase, delivery, or entry into Florida, and become late after the 20th of that month.⁴ If the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Buyers using the fly-away exemption still need their affidavit and supporting documentation to reach the Department within the separate 30-day and 90-day follow-up windows.

Penalties and Interest

A late return or late payment draws a 10% penalty on the tax owed, with a $50 minimum that applies even if no tax is due or the return is incomplete.⁸ For a return that stays unfiled, an additional 10% of the unpaid tax is added for each 30-day period of noncompliance, capped at 50% of the tax owed.¹⁰ On a $120,000 tax bill, that is up to $60,000 in penalties before any interest is added. Interest runs daily at a floating rate set by statute.

Fraud is treated separately. Filing a false or fraudulent return with intent to evade the tax carries a 100% penalty on the unreported amount and exposure to felony charges.¹⁰ The Department cross-references FAA registration and flight tracking data against filings, so an unsupported exemption claim is more likely to surface than many buyers expect.

1
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 212.05 – Sales, Storage, Use Tax
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 212.054 – Discretionary Sales Surtax; Limitations, Administration, and Collection
3
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 212.06 – Sales, Storage, Use Tax; Collectible From Dealers; Dealer Defined
4
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Return for Aircraft (DR-15AIR)
5
Florida Department of Revenue. Tax Information Publication 24A01-12
6
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 212.08 – Sales, Rental, Use, Consumption, Distribution, and Storage Tax; Specified Exemptions
7
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax on Aircraft – Information for Owners and Purchasers
8
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax on Aircraft
9
Cornell Law Institute. Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 12A-1.037 – Occasional or Isolated Sales
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 212.12 – Dealer’s Credit for Collecting Tax; Penalties for Noncompliance