Florida Toll Forgiveness Options for Unpaid Tolls

Florida has no formal toll forgiveness program, but drivers with unpaid tolls have several ways to shrink the bill. The relief comes from acting at the right stage: paying off Toll-By-Plate invoices before they turn into citations, choosing a reduced statutory fine after a citation is issued, or transferring the citation when someone else was driving your car. A $1.50 toll becomes a $100 fine per violation once it reaches traffic court, so timing is everything.¹

Catch It at the Invoice Stage

The cheapest exit is resolving toll debt before a citation is ever issued. When a vehicle passes an electronic toll point without a funded transponder, the system photographs the plate and mails a Toll Enforcement Invoice to the registered owner. The invoice covers tolls from a 30-day window and adds a $2.50 administrative fee.²³

At this stage you owe the tolls plus that administrative charge, and nothing more. Contact the issuing toll authority directly. That means SunPass for the Florida Turnpike system, E-PASS for the Central Florida Expressway Authority, or the appropriate local agency. Ask for your total outstanding balance and settle it.

In many cases the toll authority will let you open a transponder account and link your license plate, converting past violation charges back to the lower prepaid toll rates. This is where most of the practical “forgiveness” happens. It is not a written program; the authority would simply rather get you inside the electronic system than chase escalating fines.

If the debt has already been referred to a collections agency, the agency has added its own fees. Call the toll authority anyway and ask whether the account can be pulled back. And if you ignore the invoices long enough, Florida’s Department of Transportation can request a registration stop that blocks you from renewing your plate until the debt is cleared.⁴⁵

Reduced Fine Options After a Citation

Once a Uniform Traffic Citation is issued for unpaid tolls, the default penalty is a mandatory $100 fine per violation plus the unpaid toll amount shown on the citation.¹ The statute gives you two cheaper paths, but both are time-limited.

Pay $25 Plus the Toll to the Toll Authority

Within 30 days of the citation date, you can pay $25 (or another amount set by the toll facility) plus the unpaid toll directly to the governmental entity that issued the citation. This bypasses the court system entirely.⁶ The citation itself must include notice of this remedy.⁵ It is the cheapest option available once a citation exists, and the one most people miss.

Pay $30 Plus the Toll to the Clerk of Court

You can also pay $30 plus the unpaid toll to the clerk of the court. Choosing this route means adjudication is withheld and no points are assessed on your driving record.¹ If you miss the 30-day window for the $25 option, you still have an additional 45 days to either pay through the clerk or request a court hearing.⁶

Negotiating Before a Hearing

If a plea arrangement is reached before the scheduled hearing and adjudication is withheld, the fine drops to between $50 and $100 per citation plus the unpaid toll. The toll amount itself is never waived. And if you let the full $100 per violation stick, 10 or more convictions within 36 months can trigger a 60-day driver license suspension.¹

When Someone Else Was Driving

If your car was being used by someone else at the time of the violation, you are not required to pay. Florida law lets the registered owner file an affidavit within 14 days of the citation identifying who had custody of the vehicle. You provide the driver’s name, address, date of birth, and driver license number if known. If the vehicle was stolen, a police report showing the theft is sufficient. Once the affidavit is accepted, the citation transfers to the actual driver.⁵

What About the Toll Relief Rebate?

Florida has periodically offered a statewide rebate for high-volume toll users, but this is a rebate program, not forgiveness of past debt. The most recent version ran from April 2024 through March 2025 and automatically credited SunPass customers (and users of other Florida-based transponder systems) 50% of their toll costs in any month with at least 35 paid transactions. The credit posted to the following month’s account with no application needed.⁷

As of early 2026, lawmakers have not renewed the program. Similar programs have been reauthorized more than once before, so checking FDOT’s site for updates is worth it if you are a regular commuter. It does not, however, apply to unpaid tolls already owed.

Toll Debt in Bankruptcy

When toll debt has spiraled beyond what any of the above options can fix, bankruptcy sometimes enters the picture. The type of filing matters. Under Chapter 7, government-imposed fines and penalties, including the penalty portion of toll violations, are generally not dischargeable. The Bankruptcy Code specifically excludes fines payable to a governmental unit from Chapter 7 discharge.⁸ Once the case closes, the toll authority or its collections agent can resume collection.

Chapter 13 is different. Government fines under that same exception section are not listed among the exceptions to a Chapter 13 discharge.⁹ After completing a Chapter 13 repayment plan, toll penalties can potentially be discharged. The underlying toll amounts owed for actual road usage are treated separately, but by the time debt reaches this stage, the accumulated fines are usually the bulk of it. These cases are fact-specific, so talk to a bankruptcy attorney before filing.

Express Lane Violations Are Not the Same

One boundary worth knowing: driving in a managed express lane, such as 95 Express in South Florida, without a valid transponder triggers a separate $25 daily violation charge on top of the standard toll and the $2.50 administrative fee.¹⁰ The reduced-fine paths above apply once a citation issues, but the express lane daily charges accrue before you get there, and they add up faster than standard road tolls. If express lane charges are part of your balance, deal with them at the invoice stage rather than waiting.

1
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 318.18 – Amount of Penalties
2
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 14-100.005 – Video Billing
3
Florida’s Turnpike. Toll-By-Plate
4
Florida’s Turnpike. Unpaid Tolls
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 316.1001 – Payment of Toll on Toll Facilities Required Penalties
6
Justia Law. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions
7
Florida Department of Transportation. Florida’s Toll Relief Program Delivers Significant Savings
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
10
95 Express. Toll Violations and Enforcement