Florida: Sales Tax Handbook

What purchases are taxable in Florida?

The taxability of various transactions (like services and shipping) can vary from state to state, as do policies on subjects such as whether excise taxes or installation fees included in the purchase price are also subject sales tax. This reference is here to help answer your questions about what is and is not subject to the Florida sales tax.

Section 1: Taxability of Goods and Services

What transactions are generally subject to sales tax in Florida?

In the state of Florida, sales tax is legally required to be collected from all tangible, physical products being sold to a consumer. Several examples of exceptions to this tax are certain groceries, any prosthetic or orthopedic instruments, remedies considered to be common household remedies, seeds and fertilizers, and cosmetics.

This means that someone in the state of Florida who sells children's books would be required to charge sales tax, but an individual who sells makeup might not be required to charge sales tax.

Are services subject to sales tax in Florida?

The state of Florida does not usually collect sales tax from the vast majority of services performed. An example of taxed services would be investigative and crime protection services, interior nonresidential cleaning services, nonresidential pest control services, or one which includes repairing or creating a product.

This means that a yoga instructor would not be required to collect sales tax, while a private investigator may be required to collect sales tax.

You can find a table describing the taxability of common types of services later on this page.

Are shipping & handling subject to sales tax in Florida?

The state of Florida has very simple rules when it comes to taxes on shipping. When shipping the vast majority of items, you do need to charge sales tax in regards to the shipping charge. The sales tax on shipping does not need to be charged if the charges are both optional, and stated separately. In addition, no shipping charge can be taxed if it is both separately stated and the title of the property has already passed to the purchaser.

Are drop shipments subject to sales tax in Florida?

"Drop shipping" refers to the common business practice in which a vendor, often in a different state, makes a sale of a product which is shipped to the end-user by a third party supplier hired by the initial vendor. In Florida, drop shipments may or may not be subject to taxation depending on the circumstances. In the state of Florida, dealers registrated within the state are legally required to collect tax. Any registered nonresident dealer's sales of personal (tangible) property to any unregistered nonresident consumer that are drop shipped into Florida are not considered to be beholden to Florida's sales and use tax unless the following requirements are met: the taxpayer must first have shipped the property to the customer, located within the state of Florida, from the taxpayer's own facility, which must also be located in Florida. The taxpayer must also have shipped items to the aforementioned buyer from the taxpayer's own facility, which was located outside of the state of Florida, but uses a method of transportation that is either leased or owned by the taxpayer. Finally, the taxpayer must ship the property to the customer from the taxpayer's place of business, which must be located outside of Florida's state boundaries, although the terms of the delivery will require the taxpayer to collect the sales price, whether this is partially or in its entirety, from the customer at the time of delivery of the property to the consumer

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Section 2: Taxability of Various Items in Florida

This table shows the taxability of various goods and services in Florida. If you are interested in the sales tax on vehicle sales, see the car sales tax page instead. Scroll to view the full table, and click any category for more details.

* See notes in category taxability page for details