How to File Sales Tax in Florida: Forms, Deadlines, and Penalties

To file sales tax in Florida, submit Form DR-15 (or the simplified DR-15EZ if your account qualifies) through the Department of Revenue’s eFile and Pay portal by the 20th of the month following each reporting period, reporting your gross sales, subtracting exempt sales, applying the 6% state rate plus any county discretionary surtax, adding any use tax you owe, and paying electronically so you keep the collection allowance. You must file for every period assigned to you, even a period with zero tax collected.¹

When Your Return Is Due

Tax is due on the first day of the month after the reporting period closes, and the return must be postmarked or electronically submitted by the 20th of that month.² If the 20th falls on a weekend or state holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Anything filed after that is delinquent.

How often you file depends on how much tax you remitted over the prior four calendar quarters. New businesses start on monthly filing by default. The Department then adjusts your schedule based on these thresholds:³

Annual filing if you remitted $100 or less.
Semiannual filing if you remitted $500 or less.
Quarterly filing if you remitted $1,000 or less.
Quarterly return with monthly payments if you remitted more than $1,000 but no more than $12,000.
Monthly filing for accounts remitting over $12,000, and for new registrations.

If a one-time spike in sales bumps you into a higher bracket, you can write to the Department and ask to stay on your current schedule, explaining that the increase was nonrecurring.³

Which Form to Use

Florida has two returns: the full Sales and Use Tax Return (Form DR-15) and a simplified version (Form DR-15EZ) for accounts the Department has flagged as eligible.⁴ You do not choose your form; the Department’s records set your eligibility. If your situation changes—for example, you start selling taxable services or your reporting becomes more complex—you have to switch to the full DR-15.⁵

Calculating Taxable Sales

Start with gross sales for the period, which is everything you collected before any deductions. Then subtract exempt sales to get your net taxable amount. The most common exemptions are sales for resale (where the buyer gives you a valid annual resale certificate) and sales to qualifying tax-exempt organizations. When a buyer hands you a resale certificate, verify it through the Department’s online Seller Certificate Verification tool, which returns a transaction authorization number tied to that specific purchase.⁶ Save every verification response.

Applying the Rate and Surtax

The state rate is 6%.⁷ Most counties add a discretionary sales surtax on top of it, at rates that vary by location. The surtax generally applies based on where the goods are delivered, or, for over-the-counter sales, where your business is located. Add the surtax to the 6% state rate to get the combined rate you charge the customer, and report the surtax portion on the designated lines of your return.⁴

Use Tax on Your Own Purchases

If you bought items for your business without paying Florida sales tax—for example, supplies ordered from an out-of-state vendor who did not collect it—you owe use tax on those items at the same combined rate. Enter that amount on the use tax line of the return alongside your regular sales figures.

How to Submit and Pay

The Department of Revenue’s eFile and Pay portal is the primary channel for filing. As of December 2025, the Department launched an updated system for sales and use tax. Enrolled users log in with a user ID and password; guest users can file using their certificate number and business partner number.⁸ You enter your figures, review the return, submit it, and authorize an electronic funds transfer from your bank account.

Electronic filing is mandatory if your business paid $5,000 or more in sales and use tax during the prior state fiscal year, which runs July 1 through June 30.⁹ Below that threshold, you can still e-file, and doing so is the only way to claim the collection allowance. Otherwise you may mail a paper DR-15 with a check or money order, postmarked by the 20th.²

Credit card payments run through a third-party processor that charges an extra fee, so your total cost lands slightly above the tax itself. Whatever method you use, save the confirmation number the system generates. It records the date and time of your submission and is your proof you met the deadline.

The Collection Allowance

Florida lets you keep a small slice of what you collect if you file and pay electronically and on time. The collection allowance is 2.5% of the first $1,200 in tax due, capped at $30 per reporting location per filing period.¹⁰ If you owe less than $1,200, the allowance is proportionally smaller. To qualify, you have to both file and pay electronically by the 20th.⁹

File or pay even one day late and you forfeit the allowance for that period. Because it applies to every reporting period, a habit of late filing adds up over a year.

Penalties and Interest If You Miss the Deadline

A return that is not filed or paid by the 20th triggers a penalty of 10% of the tax due, with a minimum of $50 even when the return shows zero tax owed.¹¹ If you file late and pay late on the same return, only one 10% penalty applies, but the $50 minimum still stands.

Interest starts accruing on the 21st of the month following the month the tax was due. For January 1 through June 30, 2026, the floating interest rate on late payments is 11%, which works out to a daily rate factor of about 0.000301.¹² The Department recalculates the rate every six months.

Between the lost collection allowance, the 10% or $50 penalty, and daily interest, a short delay can get expensive fast. A zero return filed on time avoids all of it.

Records You Need to Keep

Florida requires you to keep all books, invoices, and records related to your sales tax obligations for as long as the Department can assess additional tax, which is generally three years from the date the return was filed or was due, whichever is later.¹³ Those records must be available if the Department audits you.

At a minimum, keep:

Copies of every DR-15 or DR-15EZ you filed, including zero returns.
Confirmation numbers and timestamps from the e-Services portal for each filing.
Bank statements showing the electronic funds transfer, or cleared checks, for each period.
Resale certificates, exemption certificates, and verification authorization numbers for every tax-exempt sale.
Invoices, receipts, and sales summaries that support your gross and exempt sales figures.

Cross-checking your bank statements against the Department’s confirmations catches problems early, before they turn into audit findings.

If You Sell Only Through a Marketplace or From Out of State

A remote seller located outside Florida must collect and remit Florida sales tax, including any applicable surtax, once its taxable remote sales into the state exceed $100,000 in the previous calendar year.⁹ That rule has been in effect since July 1, 2021. If you sell only through a qualifying marketplace facilitator that collects and remits Florida tax on your behalf, you may not need a separate registration, but confirm with the facilitator that it is actually handling your Florida sales.

Filing a Final Return If You Close or Sell

When you stop doing business in Florida, cancel your sales tax registration through the Department’s online account management tool and file a final return.¹⁴ The final return covers the period from your last regular filing through your closing date, and it is due within 15 days of that closing date rather than on the 20th of the following month. Cancellations cannot be reversed, so be sure before you submit.

If you are selling the business instead of closing it, the buyer should know about successor liability. When more than 50% of a business, its assets, or its inventory changes hands, the buyer may withhold part of the purchase price to cover any unpaid sales tax the seller owes and must remit any withheld amount to the state within 30 days of the transfer.¹⁵ If what the buyer withholds falls short of what the seller actually owed, the seller is still liable for the difference. A change of ownership also requires a new DR-1 application so the new owner registers under their own account.¹⁶

1
Florida Department of Revenue. An Overview of Sales and Use Tax for Business Owners – Part 3
2
Cornell Law School. Florida Admin Code 12A-1.056 – Tax Due at Time of Sale, Tax Returns and Regulations
3
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 212.11 – Tax Returns and Regulations
4
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Return – DR-15
5
Florida Department of Revenue. DR-15EZ Sales and Use Tax Returns Instructions
6
Florida Department of Revenue. Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax
7
Florida Department of Revenue. Tax and Interest Rates
8
Florida Department of Revenue. eFile and Pay Sales and Use Tax
9
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax
10
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 212.12 – Tax on Sales, Use, and Other Transactions
11
Florida Senate. Florida Code 212.12 – Tax on Sales, Use, and Other Transactions
12
Florida Department of Revenue. Floating Rate of Interest – January 1, 2026 Through June 30, 2026
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 213.35 – Books and Records
14
Florida Department of Revenue. Request a Change of Business Name, Address, and Account Status
15
Florida Senate. Florida Code 213.758 – Transfer of Tax Liabilities
16
Florida Department of Revenue. Account Management and Registration