Florida residents pay no state personal income tax, so the taxes you actually face are sales tax at the register, property tax on real estate you own, a handful of transaction taxes when you buy or finance a home, communications taxes on your monthly bills, and excise taxes already baked into the price of gas, tobacco, and alcohol. That mix is lighter overall than most states with an income tax, but how it lands on your household depends on where you live and what you own.1Tax Foundation. Florida Tax Rates, Collections, and Burdens
No State Income Tax on What You Earn
Florida is one of eight states that doesn’t tax personal income. Wages, salary, self-employment earnings, retirement distributions, and investment income all escape state taxation. That extends to pass-through business income: if you own a sole proprietorship, partnership, or S-corporation, the profits flow to your personal return and Florida takes no cut.2Internal Revenue Service. S Corporations You still owe federal income tax on everything, of course. The state simply isn’t part of the equation.
Sales and Use Tax
The base state sales tax rate is 6%. Most counties add a discretionary surtax of up to 2%, so the combined rate at checkout runs between 6% and 8% depending on the county.3Florida Department of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax Rate Table Sellers collect it and remit it to the Florida Department of Revenue.
Groceries, prescription medications, and most medical supplies are exempt.4Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 212.08 – Sales, Rental, Use, Consumption, Distribution, and Storage Tax; Specified Exemptions A weekly grocery run doesn’t trigger the tax, but restaurant meals and prepared food do. Newcomers from states that tax groceries often miss the distinction.
Buy something from an out-of-state retailer that doesn’t collect Florida sales tax and you technically owe use tax at the same rate. That covers online orders, catalog purchases, and goods you bring back from another state. Most people don’t realize the obligation exists, but it’s enforceable.5Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax
Property Taxes
Property taxes are where the state’s tax structure hits hardest. Several local authorities set their own millage rates on the same parcel: the county, the school board, the city, water management districts, and various special districts. The county property appraiser sets the assessed value as of January 1 each year, and the sum of overlapping millages produces your bill.6Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Property Tax Calendar (Typical Year)
Homestead Exemption
If the property is your primary residence, you can claim a homestead exemption that reduces taxable value by up to $50,000. The structure is unusual. The first $25,000 applies to all taxes, including school district levies. Assessed value between $25,000 and $50,000 gets no additional exemption. A second $25,000 exemption then applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000, but only against non-school taxes.7Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax Information for Homestead Exemption So a home assessed at $65,000 sees the first $25,000 exempt from everything, the next $25,000 fully taxable, and the remaining $15,000 exempt from non-school taxes only.
Save Our Homes Cap
Once your homestead exemption is in place, the Save Our Homes provision caps annual increases in your assessed value at 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.8Flagler County Property Appraiser. Save Our Homes/Assessment Cap This is one of the most valuable protections in the state tax code. If market values in your area jump 15% in a year, your assessed value still rises by no more than 3%. Over a decade the gap between assessed and market value can grow large. The cap resets when you sell, so the next owner starts at full market value.
Taxes When You Buy or Finance a Home
Buying real property triggers a documentary stamp tax on the deed. The rate is $0.70 per $100 of the sale price in every county except Miami-Dade.9Florida Department of Revenue. Documentary Stamp Tax On a $400,000 home that comes to $2,800. Miami-Dade uses a different structure: $0.60 per $100 for single-family residences, and $1.05 per $100 (the $0.60 rate plus a $0.45 surtax) for other property types.10Florida Department of Revenue. Documentary Stamp Tax The tax is paid to the Clerk of the Court at recording.
If you finance the purchase, a separate nonrecurring intangible tax applies to the mortgage at 2 mills, or $2 per $1,000 financed. A $320,000 mortgage carries $640 in intangible tax, paid once, before the mortgage can be recorded.11Florida Department of Revenue. Nonrecurring Intangible Tax Buyers and sellers often negotiate who covers these closing costs, but the legal obligation falls on whoever records the document.
Communications Services Tax
Your cell phone bill, cable or satellite service, and streaming subscriptions carry a communications services tax. The state portion is 4.92%, and each local jurisdiction adds its own rate.12Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Communications Services Tax The combined rate consistently runs higher than ordinary sales tax, which catches residents off guard when they scan their monthly statements. Service providers collect and remit, so the charges appear as line items.
Fuel, Tobacco, and Alcohol
State motor fuel taxes on gasoline total roughly 38 cents per gallon as of 2026, combining the base excise tax, a ninth-cent fuel tax, a State Comprehensive Enhanced Transportation System surcharge, inspection fees, and minimum local option taxes.13Florida Department of Revenue. Fuel Tax Rates Adjusted Beginning January 1, 2026 Federal gasoline tax adds another 18.4 cents per gallon. All of it is embedded in the pump price. Florida adjusts its fuel tax components periodically based on inflation and the Consumer Price Index.
Tobacco and alcohol face excise taxes levied at the wholesale level. Federal excise taxes add $50.33 per thousand small cigarettes on top of state tax before the product reaches the shelf.14Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Tax Rates Alcohol carries both state and federal per-unit excise taxes that vary by beverage type and proof. You never see these as line items because they’re folded into the retail price.
No Estate or Inheritance Tax
Florida imposes no state estate tax and no inheritance tax. The old state estate tax was tied to a federal credit for state death taxes, and when Congress replaced that credit with a deduction in 2005, Florida’s estate tax effectively disappeared. No Florida estate tax has been owed for anyone who died on or after January 1, 2005.15Florida Dept. of Revenue. Florida Estate Tax
The federal estate tax still applies. In 2026 the federal exemption is $15,000,000 per person, so only estates above that threshold owe anything.16Internal Revenue Service. What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax The combination makes Florida attractive to retirees and higher-net-worth households moving from states that tax estates at much lower thresholds.
What This Means on Your Federal Return
Because Florida takes no state income tax, your state and local tax (SALT) deduction on a federal itemized return comes almost entirely from property taxes. For 2026, the SALT cap is $40,400 for most filers, up from $40,000 in 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025. Married couples filing separately are capped at $20,200. The cap phases down for income above $500,000, eventually reaching a floor of $10,000 for the highest earners. The cap matters most if your annual property tax bill is already climbing toward the limit.
Mortgage interest on up to $750,000 of home acquisition debt is also deductible, a limit made permanent by the same 2025 legislation. For homes purchased before December 16, 2017, the older $1,000,000 threshold still applies. Both deductions only help if your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction.