Florida Form RT-6, the Employer’s Quarterly Report, is the return every Florida employer with a reemployment tax account files each quarter to report wages and pay reemployment tax to the Department of Revenue. You report total gross wages, subtract excess wages above the $7,000 annual cap per employee, apply your assigned tax rate to the remainder, and submit the report and payment by the last day of the month after the quarter closes. Most employers file and pay through the Department’s online reemployment tax portal; smaller employers may still mail the paper form to Tallahassee.
Who Files and When
Most commercial employers become liable for Florida reemployment tax once they employ at least one worker for any part of a day in 20 different calendar weeks during the current or preceding year, or once total gross wages reach $1,500 in any single calendar quarter. Agricultural and domestic employers have separate, higher thresholds. Once you cross either line, the Department assigns a seven-digit RT account number, and you file quarterly until the account is formally closed.
That obligation continues in slow quarters. If you paid no wages, you still file a “zero report.” Skipping it triggers the same $25-per-month late penalty as skipping a report with wages on it.1Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Part 3 – Filing and Remitting Quarterly Reports RT-6
Quarterly deadlines are fixed:2Florida Department of Revenue. Employers Quarterly Report Instructions
- Q1 (January–March): due April 30
- Q2 (April–June): due July 31
- Q3 (July–September): due October 31
- Q4 (October–December): due January 31
When a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state or federal holiday, it moves to the next business day. Both the report and payment must arrive by the deadline; filing on time but paying late still accrues interest.
What to Gather Before You Start
Pull these records together before opening the form:
- Your seven-digit Florida RT account number and your federal employer identification number. Both appear on Department correspondence.
- Your current tax rate. New employers start at 2.7%. After at least eight quarters of benefit-charging history, the rate shifts to an experience-based calculation that can run from 0.10% to 5.4%. The Department mails a rate notice each year.3FloridaJobs.org. Florida Reemployment Tax – Employers
- Gross wages paid to each employee during the quarter, including salaries, commissions, bonuses, vacation and sick pay, back pay awards, and the cash value of non-cash compensation.2Florida Department of Revenue. Employers Quarterly Report Instructions
- Year-to-date wages per employee. Only the first $7,000 paid to each employee during the calendar year is taxable, so you need a running total to figure the excess correctly.4Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Reemployment Tax
- Each employee’s Social Security number and legal name. The paper form allows the first twelve characters of the last name and the first eight of the first name, so verify spellings before filing.5Florida Department of Revenue. Employers Quarterly Report RT-6
If you have not yet registered, get an RT account number first through the Department’s online Florida Business Tax Application or by submitting paper Form DR-1.6Florida Dept. of Revenue. Account Management and Registration
Filling Out Page One
Page one is the financial summary and tax calculation.2Florida Department of Revenue. Employers Quarterly Report Instructions
Line 1 is a headcount, not wages. Enter the number of full-time and part-time employees who worked during or received pay for the payroll period that includes the 12th of each month in the quarter. Three separate counts, one per month.
Line 2 is total gross wages paid during the quarter before any deductions. Include tips when the employee reported $20 or more per month in writing to the employer, or when the employer used tips toward minimum wage. Exclude wage items exempt under section 443.1217(2)(b)–(g), Florida Statutes, such as certain insurance payments and qualified retirement contributions.
Line 3 is excess wages: the portion of each employee’s pay this quarter that sits above the $7,000 annual taxable cap. If an employee earned $5,000 in Q1 and $4,000 in Q2, only $2,000 of the Q2 wages is taxable and the other $2,000 is excess. When you compute excess, also account for wages the same employer reported for that employee to another state, and wages paid by a predecessor employer during the calendar year if you acquired the business.
Line 4 is taxable wages: Line 2 minus Line 3. It must match the sum of the individual taxable wage entries on page two.
Line 5 is the tax due. Multiply Line 4 by your assigned rate. Taxable wages of $28,000 at a 2.7% rate produce $756 in tax.
Line 6 is the late filing penalty, used only if the report is past due. Calculate $25 for each 30-day period, or fraction of one, between the deadline and the filing date.7Florida Legislature. Florida Code 443.141 – Collection of Contributions and Reimbursements
Filling Out Page Two
Page two lists every employee who received wages during the quarter. For each person, enter:
- Social Security number (Line 10)
- Employee name, last name first, in the character boxes (Line 11)
- Total wages paid to that employee during the quarter (Line 13a)
- Taxable wages for that employee, capped at whatever remains of their $7,000 annual limit (Line 13b)
Social Security numbers are the field auditors flag most often. A missing or incorrect SSN makes the whole report “erroneous,” which carries a penalty of $50 or 10% of any tax due, whichever is greater, up to $300 per report.7Florida Legislature. Florida Code 443.141 – Collection of Contributions and Reimbursements One exception: if the employee gave you inaccurate information and you had no way to know, the penalty does not apply.
How to Submit and Pay
Most employers file through the Department’s reemployment tax portal at brtx-fl-uc.bswa.net/RTLogin.8Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Report and Payment Information Employers with ten or more employees are required by law to file and pay electronically. You can key data directly into the portal or upload a flat file for larger payrolls. After submitting, save the confirmation number as proof of filing.
ACH debit is the standard electronic payment: you authorize the state to pull funds from your business bank account on the filing date. Credit card payments go through the portal too, though the processor adds a convenience fee.
If you have fewer than ten employees and prefer paper, mail the completed RT-6 and a check to:5Florida Department of Revenue. Employers Quarterly Report RT-6
Reemployment Tax
Florida Department of Revenue
5050 W Tennessee St
Tallahassee FL 32399-0180
Write your RT account number on the check. Mail early enough for the envelope to arrive by the deadline. The Department uses the received date, not the postmark.
Fixing an Error After Filing
If you find a mistake after filing, correct it with Form RT-8A rather than refiling the RT-6.9Florida Department of Revenue. Guide to Electronic Submission of Corrections to the Quarterly Report The correction goes through the same reemployment tax portal. Log in, select RT-8A, choose the quarter, and add the employees whose records need changing to a worklist. You can delete entries, change wages, or fix SSNs. After processing, the system shows any additional tax owed, and you can file alone or file and pay together.
Two limits are easy to miss. You cannot submit an RT-8A the same day you filed the original RT-6, because the system needs time to process the original. And if you are correcting a Social Security number, you have to amend every report from that calendar year that reported wages under the wrong number. For quarters older than 15 quarters, a paper RT-8A is required.
What Late or Wrong Filings Cost
Florida imposes three separate consequences:7Florida Legislature. Florida Code 443.141 – Collection of Contributions and Reimbursements
- Late filing penalty of $25 for each 30 days or fraction of 30 days the report is delinquent. One day late is $25; 31 days late is $50. Zero reports are not exempt.
- Erroneous report penalty of $50 or 10% of the tax due, whichever is greater, capped at $300 per report. Missing SSNs, illegible entries, and gross wages that do not match the sum of the per-employee lines all qualify.
- Interest on unpaid tax under section 213.235, Florida Statutes, capped at 1% per month, running from the original due date until the Department receives full payment.
The Department can waive penalties for good cause. Natural disasters, serious illness, and reliance on erroneous written advice from the Department are the kinds of circumstances that typically qualify.
A Few Boundaries Worth Knowing
The RT-6 covers wages paid to employees only. Payments to genuine independent contractors do not belong on it. If a worker you have been paying as a contractor should have been classified as an employee, back taxes, interest, and the erroneous-report penalty can apply to every quarter that was wrong.
If a Professional Employer Organization runs your payroll, the PEO typically files the RT-6 for you, either under its own RT account or under a client-specific account tied to your experience history.10Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax for Professional Employer Organizations Even so, the employer stays responsible for accuracy. Ask the PEO for copies of each filed RT-6 and check the employee counts and wage totals against your own records.