How to Fill Out Florida Sales and Use Tax Return (DR-15)

To fill out the Florida DR-15 sales tax return, start with your total gross sales for the reporting period, subtract exempt sales and sales for resale to reach taxable sales, multiply by the 6% state rate, add the discretionary sales surtax for each delivery county, include use tax on any business purchases you made without paying Florida tax, then subtract the collection allowance if you qualify. File and pay through the Department of Revenue’s online portal by the 20th of the month after the period closes.1Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax

You file a DR-15 for every reporting period the Department has assigned you, even one where you collected nothing. A zero return is still a return, and skipping it triggers a minimum penalty.

What You Need Before You Open the Return

Three sets of numbers drive the whole form. First, total gross sales: every dollar of revenue during the period, whether the sale was taxable, exempt, or for resale. If a transaction produced revenue, it belongs in this figure.

Second, a list of any purchases where you owe use tax. Use tax applies when you bought something for the business without paying Florida sales tax and then used it here. The classic example is an office computer ordered from an out-of-state seller who did not charge Florida tax. You owe 6% on the price.1Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax

Third, documentation for every exempt sale. For sales to other dealers, that means a copy of the buyer’s Annual Resale Certificate or a transaction authorization number from the Department’s Seller Certificate Verification tool, which issues a unique number for each verified purchase and accepts batch files for high-volume verification.2Florida Dept. of Revenue. Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax For sales to government agencies or qualifying nonprofits, keep the appropriate exemption certificate on file.

Getting to Taxable Sales

The math on the return is a funnel. Start with gross sales, subtract what wasn’t taxable, and apply the tax rate to what remains.

Common deductions include sales for resale backed by a valid certificate, exempt items like most unprepared groceries, and returns where you already refunded the tax to the customer. What’s left after those deductions is your taxable sales figure for the period.

Multiply taxable sales by 0.06 for the state tax. A few categories carry different rates and get reported on their own lines: retail sales of new mobile homes at 3%, amusement machine receipts at 4%, and electricity at 6.95%.1Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax

Adding Use Tax to the Return

The return has a line for use tax that many businesses forget until an auditor asks. If you bought taxable items or services for the business and no Florida sales tax was charged, add the total cost of those purchases and apply 6%. That amount rolls into your total tax liability for the period.

Layering On the County Surtax

On top of the 6% state rate, most counties impose a discretionary sales surtax. The rate that applies is the rate for the county where the goods or services are delivered, not where your business sits. Ship to a customer in Alachua County and you collect Alachua County’s rate.

County surtax rates run from 0.5% to 2.5%, and some counties charge nothing.3Florida Dept. of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax Combined with the state rate, a customer’s total can land anywhere between 6% and 8.5%. Check the Department’s rate table at the start of each year, since county rates change when new referendums pass.4Florida Dept. of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax Rate Table

The $5,000 Cap

For a single item of tangible personal property, surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of the sales price.3Florida Dept. of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax Sell a $25,000 machine and you calculate surtax on $5,000; the other $20,000 gets the 6% state rate only.

The cap does not apply to sales of services, admissions, transient rentals, or prepaid calling arrangements. Those are surtaxed on the full amount.3Florida Dept. of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax A $10,000 service contract is fully surtaxed. A $10,000 piece of equipment is not.

Breaking Out Surtax by County

If you deliver to more than one county, track surtax by delivery location and report each county’s surtax liability separately in the section of the return set aside for that. Sloppy records here cause the biggest audit problems. When you can’t show which county received which shipment, the Department can assess the highest applicable rate on all your sales.

Subtracting the Collection Allowance

File and pay electronically on time and you can subtract a collection allowance from your total tax liability before submitting payment. It equals 2.5% of the first $1,200 of state tax due, capped at $30 per reporting period.1Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax Miss the deadline by a day and the allowance is gone for that period. Quarterly and annual filers get the same $30 maximum per period, not per month.

When and How to Submit

The return and payment are due the 1st of the month after the reporting period and become late after the 20th.5Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Return – DR-15 For January sales, that means a February 1st due date with a February 20th late cutoff. When the 20th lands on a weekend or state holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day.6Florida Department of Revenue. Florida eServices Calendar of Electronic Payment Deadlines For Calendar Year 2026

The 2026 electronic payment deadlines are:

  • January: 16th
  • February: 19th
  • March: 19th
  • April: 17th
  • May: 19th
  • June: 18th
  • July: 17th
  • August: 19th
  • September: 18th
  • October: 19th
  • November: 19th
  • December: 18th

To count as timely, the electronic payment has to complete and produce a confirmation number by 5:00 p.m. ET on the deadline date. Anything after 5:00 p.m. processes the next business day and is late.6Florida Department of Revenue. Florida eServices Calendar of Electronic Payment Deadlines For Calendar Year 2026

Businesses that paid $5,000 or more in sales tax during the most recent state fiscal year (July through June) must file and pay electronically.7Florida Department of Revenue. Taxes, Fees, Remittances, and Reports with Electronic File and Pay Requirements The Department’s portal accepts ACH debit, ACH credit, and credit card. Even smaller filers should use the portal, because electronic filing is the only way to claim the collection allowance.

Fixing a Return After You File

Found a mistake after submitting? File an amended return through the Department’s online system. The amended return replaces the original for that collection period, and you fill it out in full as it should have been filed the first time, not just the corrected lines.8Florida Department of Revenue. Important Amended Return Filing Information

Enter your Previously Paid Amount so the system credits your original payment. If you overpaid, the Department may issue a credit memo to use against a future return. If you underpaid, you owe the difference. One limitation: you cannot amend a return on the same day you filed it. Catch a mistake that day and the fix is to cancel the original and resubmit corrected.

Commercial Rent Is No Longer on the Return

If you have historically reported state sales tax on commercial rent, that line no longer applies for 2026 periods. Florida repealed the state sales tax and discretionary surtax on commercial real property leases effective October 1, 2025, so no state tax applies to rent or license fees for any rental or occupancy period beginning on or after that date.9Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025 Transient accommodations, like hotel rooms and short-term vacation rentals, are still taxable and still get reported on the DR-15.