Miami Homeless Tax: Who Collects, Filing, and Penalties

The Miami homeless tax is a 1% Miami-Dade County surcharge on food and beverage sales at restaurants and bars that hold a Florida on-premises liquor license and gross more than $400,000 a year. It sits on top of the state’s 6% sales tax, and the revenue funds homeless services and domestic violence centers under Florida Statute 212.0306.¹

What Sales the Tax Applies To

The 1% surcharge attaches to every food and beverage sale at a qualifying establishment, alcoholic or not. A dinner entrée, a cocktail, a soda, even a glass of water sold with a meal — all taxable. The one clear exclusion is alcohol sold by the package for off-premises consumption, so a bottle of wine picked up from a restaurant’s retail shelf is not covered.¹

Covered venues include restaurants, coffee shops, snack bars, nightclubs, banquet halls, and catering or room service operations, provided they are not located on hotel or motel property.² Hotels and motels fall under a separate 2% food and beverage tax with different rules and a different revenue destination.¹

Which Businesses Have to Collect It

Two conditions have to be true at the same time. The business must hold a Florida license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, and its gross annual revenue in the previous calendar year must exceed $400,000.¹ A bar that grossed $350,000 doesn’t collect. A restaurant with no liquor license doesn’t collect, no matter how busy.

Every establishment has to recheck its gross revenue at the close of each calendar year. If crossing the $400,000 line changes the answer, the change takes effect the following February 1, and you must notify the county tax collector in writing within 20 days of year-end.³

New Restaurants and Bars

A newly opened qualifying establishment must collect the tax for its first 45 days of operation, no matter what revenue it projects. After day 45, the business can stop collecting if projected annual revenue comes in at or below $400,000. The projection is straightforward: divide the first 45 days of revenue by 45, then multiply by 365. If the result is at or under the threshold, notify the tax collector within 20 days of the last day you collected.¹

Veterans’ Organizations

Sales at veterans’ organizations are exempt entirely, even with a liquor license and revenues above the threshold. Anything already exempt from Florida sales tax is also exempt from this surcharge.¹

Where the Tax Does Not Apply

Miami Beach, Bal Harbour, and Surfside are outside the surcharge. Miami-Dade does not collect it in those three cities.²⁴¹ Diners in South Beach won’t see the surcharge on the check, though a municipal resort tax may appear instead.

Registering With the County

Each qualifying establishment registers separately with Miami-Dade using the Food and Beverage Tax Account Registration Form, available online or as a printable download.⁵ You’ll need three identifiers before you start:

Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
Florida sales tax number issued by the Department of Revenue when you registered to collect the state’s 6% sales tax.
DBPR alcoholic beverage license number and license type.

The surcharge is governed locally under Miami-Dade County Ordinance Chapter 29, Article V, Section 29-51.²

Monthly Filing and Payment

Returns go through the county’s TouristExpress online system, and a return is due every month, even for months with no activity. Zero-dollar returns still have to be filed. Returns and payments are due on the first of the month following the collection period, and they are considered late if not received by the 20th. If the 20th lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.²

TouristExpress accepts online e-check and credit card payments. Filing electronically on or before the due date qualifies the business for a collection allowance of up to $30, a small credit that offsets the administrative cost of collecting the tax.²

Penalties for Late or Missing Returns

The penalty structure escalates quickly. A late return draws a 10% penalty on the tax owed for each 30-day period or fraction of one, stacking to a maximum of 50%. The minimum penalty is $50, so a missed zero-dollar filing still costs $50.²

Interest accrues daily from the day after the return was due, with no cap. The collection allowance is revoked on any late return. The county can also record a tax warrant lien against business property and seek a writ of garnishment to freeze bank accounts.²

As of October 2025, non-electronic filing and non-electronic payment each carry a $10 fee. Mailing in a paper return with a check adds $20 in fees on top of any penalties.²

The most serious exposure is criminal. A person who fails or refuses to collect the tax, personally or through employees, is personally liable for the unpaid amount and faces a second-degree misdemeanor charge for each occasion on which the tax was not collected.²

Where the Money Goes

The statute directs at least 15% of the 1% revenue to building and operating domestic violence centers. The other 85% funds services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including emergency shelter, food, clothing, medical care, counseling, substance abuse and mental health treatment, job training, education, and housing.¹⁶⁷

Buying a Restaurant or Bar That Collects the Tax

Before closing on the purchase of a Miami-Dade restaurant or bar, confirm the seller is current on food and beverage tax filings and payments. Successor liability rules can leave a buyer on the hook for a prior owner’s unpaid taxes, especially in asset purchases where liabilities can travel with the assets. If the previous operator never filed required returns, the liability may have no statute of limitations. A tax clearance letter from the county surfaces these problems before they become yours.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 212.0306 – Local Option Food and Beverage Tax
2
Miami-Dade County. Tourist and Restaurant Taxes
3
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 212 Section 0306
4
Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research. Revenue Estimating Conference – Local Option Food and Beverage Tax
5
Miami-Dade County. Food and Beverage Tax Account Registration Form
6
Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. About Us
7
Miami-Dade County. FY 2025-26 Adopted Budget – Homeless Trust