Miami, Florida Sales Tax Rate: $5,000 Surtax Cap and Exemptions

The Miami, Florida sales tax rate is 7%. That figure is Florida’s 6% statewide sales tax plus a 1% discretionary surtax added by Miami-Dade County, and it applies to most physical goods and a narrow set of services sold anywhere in the county.¹² Retailers collect the full 7% at checkout and remit it to the Florida Department of Revenue, which sends the local share back to the county. Underneath that flat number, though, are a few rules worth knowing: a cap that reduces the tax on expensive items, sizable categories of exempt purchases, and additional taxes that push the rate on hotel stays well past 7%.

The $5,000 Cap on the Local Surtax

The 1% Miami-Dade surtax only applies to the first $5,000 of any single item. Every dollar above $5,000 on that item is taxed at the 6% state rate only.³ On a $30,000 boat, the surtax adds $50 rather than $300, because only the first $5,000 carries the extra percent. The remaining $25,000 is taxed at 6%.

The cap works per item. Buying two separate $4,000 items means the surtax applies fully to each. But if items are normally sold together as a working unit or in bulk and appear on the same invoice, they count as a single item for the cap. A boat and its trailer sold together on one invoice, for example, are treated as one item.³

What the 7% Applies To

Sales tax at 7% covers tangible personal property, which is essentially anything physical you can move or hold. Electronics, furniture, appliances, household goods, and clothing all fall into this category. Florida does not exempt everyday clothing the way some states do, so a $200 pair of shoes carries the full 7% year-round.

Motor Vehicles

Buying a car in Miami-Dade triggers the same 7% rate, but Florida lets you subtract your trade-in value before calculating the tax. Buy a $40,000 vehicle and trade in your old car for $15,000, and you pay tax on $25,000, not the full price.⁴ The trade-in doesn’t need to be titled in your name, but it must be part of the same transaction.⁵ The $5,000 surtax cap applies here too, which matters on any vehicle priced above that threshold.

Services

Most services in Florida are not taxed, but a few specific categories are. Detective, burglar protection, and security services carry the full rate.¹ Nonresidential pest control is taxable, while pest control for homes, lawns, and vehicles is not.⁶ Nonresidential interior cleaning is also taxable.

Admissions

Tickets to movies, sporting events, amusement parks, carnivals, and most recreational activities are subject to the 7% tax. Live theater, opera, and ballet performances are tax-free, and admissions charged by qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits are also exempt.⁷

Groceries and Prepared Food

Unprepared food bought at a grocery store for home consumption is exempt. That covers the basics: meat, dairy, eggs, bread, fruit, vegetables, canned goods, and baking supplies. Coffee, tea (unless sold in liquid form), and natural fruit or vegetable juice also qualify.⁸

Prepared food is a different story. Restaurant meals, food truck orders, deli sandwiches, and anything sold hot carry the full 7%, even for takeout.⁹ The line can feel arbitrary. A gallon of milk from the dairy aisle is tax-free; a milkshake at a lunch counter is taxable. Frozen dinners from the freezer section are exempt; the same meals heated and served at a cafeteria are not.

A few grocery-aisle items that look exempt actually aren’t. Soft drinks (including noncarbonated drinks made from milk derivatives, and tea sold in cans) are taxed. So are ice cream novelty items like popsicles, ice cream bars, and other individual-serving frozen treats.⁸

Medical and Health Items

Prescription medications are exempt from both the state and local tax.⁸ The exemption reaches well past prescriptions, though. Over-the-counter items including bandages, insulin, first-aid supplies, thermometers, blood glucose test kits, and items the state classifies as common household remedies are tax-free.¹⁰

Prosthetic and orthopedic devices, including artificial limbs, hearing aids, wheelchairs, crutches, and braces, are exempt when dispensed by prescription. Several items on that list, such as walkers, canes, and wheelchair parts, are exempt even without a prescription. Prescription eyeglasses, dentures, and contact lens supplies are also tax-free.¹⁰

Diapers (all ages), incontinence products, menstrual products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, and mouthwash are also exempt, and those exemptions apply year-round rather than only during a holiday window.¹⁰

Digital Goods and Streaming

Florida does not charge sales tax on digital downloads or streaming subscriptions. The state sales tax is written to cover tangible personal property, so digital music, ebooks, streaming video, downloaded software, and cloud subscriptions fall outside its reach. A Netflix subscription, an app purchase, or a downloaded game is not taxed in Miami-Dade.¹ Buy a physical Blu-ray at a store and you pay 7%; stream the same movie and there’s no sales tax. One caveat: Florida imposes a separate communications services tax on cable, satellite TV, and certain video services, which shows up as its own line item and is not part of sales tax.

Hotels and Short-Term Rentals

The 7% figure understates what visitors pay to stay in Miami-Dade. On top of sales tax, the county adds a 3% convention development tax and a 2% tourist development tax on short-term accommodations, bringing the combined rate on a hotel room to 12% in most of the county. Some municipalities add more: Miami Beach layers on a 4% resort tax on room charges plus a 2% tax on food and beverages at restaurants, bars, and nightclubs within its city limits.¹¹

These tourist taxes apply to rentals of six months or less. A long-term residential lease is not subject to them.

Sales Tax Holidays

Florida’s legislature periodically authorizes windows during which specific categories of goods are temporarily tax-free. The most common are a back-to-school holiday covering clothing, shoes, school supplies, and personal computers, and a disaster preparedness holiday covering emergency equipment like generators and batteries.¹² Holidays for camping, fishing, and hunting supplies have also appeared in recent years.

Dates, item lists, and price caps change year to year and are set by legislation, usually announced several months ahead. Before a planned major purchase, checking the Florida Department of Revenue’s website is the simplest way to see whether a holiday is active or coming up.

Use Tax on Out-of-State Purchases

If you buy something from an out-of-state seller that doesn’t collect Florida sales tax, you owe Florida’s 6% use tax on that purchase. The use tax closes what would otherwise be a loophole for buyers ordering from retailers in states that don’t collect Florida tax. If you already paid sales tax to another state, Florida credits that amount and you owe only the difference.¹³

Most large online retailers now collect Florida sales tax automatically, so use tax mostly comes up with smaller sellers, private-party purchases, or things bought while traveling. If the tax owed is less than a dollar, you don’t need to file. Otherwise, it’s remitted directly to the Department of Revenue.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statute 212.05 – Sales, Storage, Use Tax
2
Florida Department of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statute 212.054 – Discretionary Sales Surtax; Limitations, Administration, and Collection
4
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax on Motor Vehicles
5
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. TL-08 – Sales and Use Tax – Transfer of Motor Vehicles, Mobile Homes, and Vessels
6
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax on Pest Control Services
7
Florida Administrative Code. Rule 12A-1.005 – Admissions
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statute 212.08 – Sales, Rental, Use, Consumption, Distribution, and Storage Tax; Specified Exemptions
9
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax on Restaurants and Catering
10
Florida Department of Revenue. Nontaxable Medical Items and General Grocery List
11
Miami-Dade County. Tourist and Restaurant Taxes
12
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Holidays and Exemption Periods
13
Florida Department of Revenue. Consumer Information