This article is general information, not tax advice. Rates and rules change; confirm current details with the Florida Department of Revenue or your tax professional.
What's the sales tax rate in Jacksonville?
Florida's state sales tax rate is 6%. Counties can add a discretionary sales surtax; Duval County's surtax is 1.5%, making the combined rate in Jacksonville 7.5%. Neighboring counties differ (St. Johns County, for example, has a 0.5% surtax, so Ponte Vedra and Nocatee are at 6.5%), and the surtax applies based on where the customer takes possession, which matters if you deliver or ship within Florida. Note that the county surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of a single item's sale price.
Who has to register and collect?
If you sell tangible goods at retail in Florida, you must register with the Department of Revenue before you make your first sale. Certain services are also taxable in Florida, including:
- Commercial pest control and nonresidential cleaning services
- Detective, burglar protection, and security services
- Short-term rentals of living accommodations (six months or less)
- Admissions and amusement charges
- Rentals of tangible personal property (equipment, party supplies)
Most professional and personal services (legal, accounting, consulting, medical, salon services) are not taxable in Florida, but products sold alongside them are.
Registration is free through the Department of Revenue's online portal. You'll receive a certificate of registration and a resale certificate.
How often do you file?
The Department of Revenue assigns your filing frequency based on how much sales tax you collected in the prior state fiscal year (July–June):
| Annual tax collected | Filing frequency |
|---|---|
| More than $1,000 | Monthly |
| $501 – $1,000 | Quarterly |
| $101 – $500 | Semiannually |
| $100 or less | Annually |
New businesses are usually assigned quarterly filing until they have a history. Returns are filed on Form DR-15, and most businesses are required to file and pay electronically.
When is it due?
Returns and payments are due on the 1st of the month after the reporting period and are late after the 20th. If the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Electronic payments must be initiated by 5:00 PM ET on the business day before the 20th to be timely. Late filings incur a penalty of 10% of the tax due (minimum $50) plus interest.
The collection allowance
If you file and pay on time electronically, Florida lets you keep a collection allowance of 2.5% of the first $1,200 of tax due (maximum $30 per return). It's small, but it's free money for filing on time, and it should be recorded as other income in your books.
Common mistakes we see in Jacksonville books
1. Sales tax recorded as revenue. The tax you collect isn't your money. It should be booked as a liability at the point of sale, not as income. If it's in revenue, your sales are overstated and your DR-15 won't match your books.
2. Paying from the general account without tracking the liability. When the sales tax liability isn't on the balance sheet, owners spend the money and come up short on the 20th.
3. Charging the wrong surtax on deliveries. A Jacksonville restaurant catering an event in St. Johns County should charge 6.5%, not 7.5%. POS systems don't always handle this automatically.
4. Ignoring marketplace facilitator rules. Since 2021, Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and similar marketplaces collect and remit Florida tax on your behalf. Shopify does not. Don't double-remit on marketplace sales, and don't forget to remit on your own site's sales.
5. Missing tourist development tax. Short-term rental hosts in Duval County owe 6% county tourist development tax on top of state sales tax. Airbnb and VRBO collect state tax but may not collect the county tax for you.
6. Using a resale certificate for things you don't resell. Buying office supplies or equipment tax-free with your resale certificate is a frequent audit finding. Use tax is owed on those purchases.
How bookkeeping makes sales tax painless
When your books track sales tax collected as a liability from day one, reconcile it to your POS or invoicing system every month, and record each DR-15 payment against the liability, the return becomes a five-minute task and audits become a file you hand over. That's how we set up every Jacksonville client who collects sales tax. Learn more about monthly bookkeeping or get an estimate that includes sales tax filings.