Tourist and Restaurant Taxes

To register your business with RER Business Section, you must obtain each of the items listed below before you begin business operations:

• You must obtain a Florida Sales Tax number from the Florida Department of Revenue
• If you are renting a private residence, you must obtain a Certificate of Use. Visit Short Term Vacation Rentals for more information regarding vacation rentals within Miami-Dade County
• Before buying an existing business, you must ask the seller for documentation of any tax, penalty or interest due to RER’s Business Section since you could be liable for what is owed in relation to the business. The seller should provide this certificate as proof of good standing when selling a business or business interest. The seller can ask RER’s Business Section for a Certificate of Compliance as proof that a Notice of Intent to Audit has not been issued to the business and there are no outstanding liabilities on their account by calling 305-375-5550 or emailing [email protected].

Once the above items are obtained, complete the appropriate Tourist Tax or Food and Beverage Tax Registration form based on what services will be offered at the business location and which revenues will be reported via the new tax account as follows:

• If the services offered at the location will be only short-term rentals, complete and submit the Tourist Tax Account Registration Form
• If the services offered at the location will be both short-term rentals and food and beverages and the revenues reported will be:
  • only transient rental revenues, complete and submit the Tourist Tax Account Registration Form
  • both transient rental along with food and beverages revenues, complete and submit the Tourist Tax Account Registration Form
  • only food and beverages revenues, complete and submit the Food & Beverage Tax Account Registration Form
• If the services offered by your business will be only food and beverages, complete and submit the Food & Beverage Tax Account Registration Form

Once the registration form is complete, please attach the form to an email and send it to [email protected], or print it and fax it to 305-375-5594, or mail it to RER’s Business Section using the following address:

Regulatory and Economic Resources
Business Section
11805 SW 26th Street
Miami, FL 33175

If you purchased or took over the business being registered, include the Certificate of Compliance and its required supporting documents..
When your registration form has been processed, a Tourist Tax account number will be assigned for the business and provided to you via email.

Set up your Tourist Express user profile

To file and pay your taxes electronically, you must first create a profile on the TouristExpress website. You will be prompted to set up your online profile by entering your name, business address, business phone number, business email address and password, as well as set up your security question and answer. You will receive an email notification within two days that your user account is active. You will need to enter your email address and the password you created to sign in the first time.

Add your Tourist Tax account

Once your account is active and you select the confirmation link in the email, you can add your hotel and/or restaurant Tourist Tax accounts. You will be directed to the "My properties" page, where you can add properties. Have your Miami-Dade Tourist Tax account number handy, the physical location of the property and a previously paid return. If you have never paid Convention and Tourist Taxes before, enter the current month and year (MMM YYYY) for the return period and 0.00 for the gross amount. After your request is submitted, we will verify the information and send you an email notification for each location account. Requests are only processed during regular business hours.

File Returns

File your returns online by logging into your TouristExpress profile using your registered email address. Tax returns and payments are due on the 1st and are late if not received by the 20th day of the month following each reporting period. If the 20th falls on Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, the due date will be the next business day. You must file a tax return for each reporting period, even if you did not rent your property and no tax is due. The minimum penalty for a delinquent tax return is $50. Only returns filed using TouristExpress on or before the due date will be eligible for a collection allowance of up to $30.

Online e-check payments and credit cards are accepted.

Per Florida Statute 68.065, if a payment is returned due to lack of funds or lack of an account or a stop payment is applied to avoid payment, RER's Business Section can lawfully collect assessed bank fees plus a service charge as follows:

• $25.00, if the face value does not exceed $50.00;
• $30.00 if the face value exceeds $50.00 but does not exceed $30.00;
• $40.00 if the face value exceeds $300.00;
• or an amount of up to 5% of the face amount of the check, whichever is greater

The penalties for late payments or unpaid taxes are:

• A penalty of 10 percent on a fraction of or the total tax for each 30 days or a fraction up to 50 percent, but not less than $50
• Interest is calculated daily and can change. For the current rate of interest, email [email protected]
• The collection allowance is not allowed
• RER's Business Section may levy a tax warrant lien on the property to enforce collections
• RER's Business Section may request a writ of garnishment, which is an order of a third party to hold property (or money) for the defendant for delivery to a creditor when an overdue debt is owed, or freeze a delinquent facilities bank account

In addition to the 6 percent Florida sales tax, businesses must also pay the following taxes.

Short-term Transient Rental Taxes

In total, a 6 percent tax is collected on the rental amount from any person who rents, leases or lets for consideration any living quarter accommodations in a hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment motel, rooming house, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, single family dwelling, beach house, cottage, condominium, or any other sleeping accommodations rented for a period of six months or less. If the rental is for more than six months, a written lease must be available upon request by the Tax Collector to be exempt according to Florida Statute 212.03.

The 6 percent tax is made up of the following taxes:

• 3 percent Convention Development Tax collected throughout Miami-Dade County, with the exception of the cities of Surfside and Bal Harbour. Two-thirds of the tax receipts are distributed to Miami-Dade County to fund a wide range of tourist facilities, cultural centers, neighborhood cultural facilities and other educational institutions. One-third is used to fund the Miami Arena.
• 2 percent Tourist Development Tax collected throughout Miami-Dade County, with the exception of the cities of Surfside and Bal Harbour and Miami Beach. In total, 60 percent of the tax receipts are distributed to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau for operations and promotional efforts; 20 percent to fund cultural grants administered by and the operations of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs; and 20 percent to fund tourist facilities in the city of Miami.
• 1 percent Professional Sports Facilities Franchise Tax collected throughout Miami-Dade County, with the exception of the cities of Surfside and Bal Harbour and Miami Beach. All tax receipts are used for debt service payments for Miami-Dade County professional sports facilities.

In addition to the 3 percent Convention Development Tax, facilities in Miami Beach are subject to a 4 percent tax on the rent of a room or rooms in any hotel, motel, rooming house or apartment house, and a 2% tax levied on the total sales price of all food, beverages, alcoholic beverages (including beer and wine) sold in any restaurant, bar, or nightclub

Food and Beverage Tax

A 2 percent Food and Beverage Tax from hotels and motels is collected on the sale of all food and beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) by restaurants, coffee shops, snack bars, wet bars, night clubs, banquet halls, catering or room services, and any other food and beverage facilities in or on hotel or motelproperty.

Homeless and Domestic Violence Tax

A 1 percent Homeless and Domestic Violence Tax is collected on all food and beverage sales by businesses that sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. Only businesses with gross annual receipts over $400,000 must collect this tax. Facilities in hotels and motels do not have to collect this tax.

Of the 1 percent, 85 percent of the tax receipts goes to the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, and 15 percent goes to Miami-Dade domestic violence centers.

Miami-Dade County does not collect any Food and Beverage Taxes in the cities of Miami Beach, Bal Harbour and Surfside.

• Florida Statute allowing for food and beverage taxes

In Miami-Dade County, Hotel and Restaurant Taxes laws are governed by the Florida Statutes.

Below is a list of statutes that are most commonly referred to. This list is for informational purposes and is not a substitute for professional legal or accounting advice. For more information, email [email protected]. 

Definitions and Operations Regulations

• Definitions pertaining to transient taxes are governed by Florida Statute 212.02
• Operation statutes (hotels and restaurants) are governed by Hotel and Restaurant Non Tax Laws, Chapter 509, Part I

Procedures, Administration, and Enforcement

• Tourist tax collections on transient rentals are governed by Florida Statute 125.0104
• Transient rentals tax; rate, procedure, enforcement and exemptions are governed by Florida Statute 212.03
• Convention development taxes on transient rentals are governed by Florida Statute 212.0305
• Food and beverage taxes are governed by Florida Statute 212.0306

Returns

• Exemptions from taxes are governed by Florida Statute 212.08, sections (1)(c); (4)(b); (6); (7)(n),(s),(jj),(oo),(pp)
• Tax returns and regulations are governed by Florida Statute 212.11, section 1(b)(e)(f); (2); (5)
• Collection allowance for timely filing of returns is governed by Florida Statute 212.12, sections (1)(a)1, 2(b)
• Tax credits or refunds are governed by Florida Statute 212.17, sections (3), (4)
• Confidentiality and information sharing is governed by Florida Statute 213.053, sections 1(a), 1(k), (2), (3), (5), (20), (21)

Audits

• The authority to audit is governed by Florida Statute 213.34
• Books and records are required to be kept under Florida Statute 213.35
• The audit procedure (records required to be kept; power to inspect) is governed by Florida Statute 212.13
• The appeal process is governed by Florida Statute 72.011, sections (1)(a), (1)(b)

Fees, Penalties, and Punishments

• Dishonored check fees are governed by Florida Statute 68.065
• Penalties and interest for late and non-filing of returns are governed by Florida Statute 212.12, sections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
• Departmental powers (hearings, distress warrants, subpoenas) are governed by Florida Statute 212.14, sections (1), (2), (3), (6), (7)
• Penalties for failure to remit taxes are governed by Florida Statute 212.15 (statute makes no mention of ‘cancelling’ tax)
• Punishments for evading taxes are governed by Florida Statute 775.082
• Fines for evading taxes are governed by Florida Statute 775.083
• Limitations on actions to collect taxes are governed by Florida Statute 95.091, sections (2), (3)

Tax Administration Rules

The Florida Department of Revenue Sales Tax Division has created rules based on the statutes for the administration of hotel and restaurant taxes. This list for informational purposes and is not a substitute for professional legal or accounting advice. For more information, email the [email protected].

These rules give details and examples in applying the Florida Statutes when collecting hotel and restaurant taxes:

• Food and beverage taxes
• Transient rental taxes