Florida’s sales tax on commercial rent was repealed effective October 1, 2025. For any occupancy period starting on or after that date, no state sales tax and no county discretionary surtax applies to rent on offices, retail space, warehouses, industrial buildings, self-storage units, or unimproved land leased for business use.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025 Florida had been the only state with a sales tax on business rents, and the repeal, enacted through Chapter 2025-208, Laws of Florida, struck Section 212.031 entirely. If you’re signing a lease today, there is no sales tax line to budget for. If you were a landlord or tenant before October 2025, a few obligations from the old regime still follow you.
What the Repeal Covers
The repeal eliminates both the 2% state rate and any county discretionary surtax on commercial rent. It also wipes out tax on the add-ons that used to inflate the taxable base: Common Area Maintenance fees, property tax pass-throughs in triple-net leases, and insurance premiums paid on the landlord’s behalf. None of these trigger sales tax for occupancy periods beginning October 1, 2025, or later.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025
What Florida Still Taxes
A separate statute, Section 212.03, was not repealed. Sales tax and any applicable county surtax continue to apply to:
- Living, sleeping, or housekeeping accommodations rented for six months or less
- Parking or storage spaces for motor vehicles in lots and garages
- Docking or storage spaces at marinas
- Tie-down or storage space at airports
If you rent a parking garage space or a boat slip, you still owe sales tax on that payment.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025
How the October 1, 2025 Cutoff Works
The dividing line is the occupancy period the rent covers, not when the payment is made. Two scenarios come up often:
- Rent for September 2025 or earlier, paid late. Still taxable. A landlord who receives August or September 2025 rent in 2026 must collect the 2% state tax plus any county surtax and remit it.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025
- Rent for October 2025 or later, paid early. Not taxable. A tenant who prepaid October rent in September 2025 owed no tax on that payment.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025
Delay doesn’t erase the obligation. Tax follows the period, not the check.
Pre-Repeal Obligations That Still Apply to Landlords
The repeal does not forgive tax that should have been collected or remitted for periods through September 2025. Landlords whose sales tax accounts existed only to report commercial rent were required to file final returns covering all periods through September 2025, and returns were due even if no tax was owed for the period.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025 Returns and payments were due on the 1st and late after the 20th of the month following each reporting period.2Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Returns Instructions for DR-15 Landlords who also collect sales tax on other transactions keep their registration and continue filing, just without the commercial rent line.
Late filing or late payment carries a 10% penalty on the unpaid tax, with a $50 minimum. Underreporting on a filed return draws 10% for the first 30 days and another 10% for each additional 30-day period, up to 50% of the unpaid amount. Interest runs at 1% per month from the 21st day of the month after the period when the tax was due.3Florida Legislature. Florida Code 212 – Dealer’s Credit, Penalties, Hearings, Liens, and More Collected tax that was never remitted is treated as funds held in trust for the state, and willful failure to remit can be prosecuted criminally, with charges ranging from a third-degree felony up to a first-degree felony for amounts above $100,000.
The Department of Revenue can audit commercial rent transactions for up to three years after the tax was due or the return was filed, whichever is later.4Florida Legislature. Florida Code 95 – Limitations of Actions; Statute of Repose If a return was never filed or was substantially incorrect, the lookback can run longer.5Florida Department of Revenue. What to Expect from a Florida Sales and Use Tax Audit Landlords should keep lease agreements, rent rolls, CAM reconciliations, tax returns, and payment records for at least three years;1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025 holding them into late 2028 covers the audit window for the last taxable periods. Tenants who paid tax on commercial rent through September 2025 should keep their own payment records over the same stretch in case they need to support a refund claim.
If Sales Tax Was Charged on Post-Repeal Rent
Tax collected on rent for an occupancy period starting October 1, 2025, or later was not due. A landlord who wants that money back from the state must first refund the sales tax to the tenant, then file an Application for Refund (Form DR-26S) with documentation showing the tenant was repaid.1Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025 The Department will not refund a landlord who still holds the tenant’s money.
A tenant whose landlord is still charging sales tax on post-September 2025 rent should ask the landlord to stop collecting and refund the overcharge. If the landlord won’t correct it, the tenant can apply to the Department of Revenue for a refund directly.
Lease Clauses That Reference Sales Tax
Plenty of commercial leases signed before the repeal still contain language requiring the tenant to pay sales tax on rent. Those clauses don’t vanish on their own. Where the clause ties the tenant’s obligation to “all applicable sales taxes,” the obligation naturally drops to zero once the rate does, with no amendment needed. Where a lease builds a specific dollar amount or fixed percentage into the rent as a tax pass-through, the picture is murkier. A landlord may argue the higher payment is simply part of the agreed rent; a tenant should read the clause closely and push back if money clearly earmarked as a tax pass-through is being retained. Well-drafted Florida leases usually anticipated rate changes and tied the obligation to the tax actually imposed, but weaker drafting creates room for disputes.
For leases signed in 2026, there is no reason to carry a commercial-rent sales tax provision. If a landlord’s form still has one left over from pre-repeal templates, strike it or negotiate its removal before signing.