Host, Christine Karpinski:  I'm Christine Karpinski. Thank you for listening to the "How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner" podcast! Today's guest is Belinda Watson. She's one of twenty-two Tax Education Specialists for the Florida Department of Revenue. She's joining us via phone from her office in Daytona, Florida. Welcome, Belinda.

Guest, Belinda Watson: Good morning.

Christine:  Thank you for coming on our show. Belinda's going to talk to us today about the sales tax collection for the Florida Department of Revenue. Since a lot of people own and rent vacation homes in Florida, I thought that the Florida Department of Revenue would probably be the best department to talk to, and Belinda has thankfully agreed to answer some questions for us.

The first thing that I wanted to ask you is: Who is required to collect and pay sales taxes?

Belinda:  OK. As regards to transient rentals, anyone who is renting their facility, living accommodations, for periods less than six months will be required to collect sales tax from the person who's occupying that property. They may also be required to file a separate return with the respective county where the property is located, as well.

Christine:  What if I have a property manager? Who would be required to file ‑‑ would it be me, or would it be the property manager?

Belinda:  When you have a property manager involved, the property manager would be the one responsible to file. But you as an individual owner of that unit would need to be registered with us, and the property manager needs to be registered with us as well. Then the property manager will complete an application for collective registration‑‑ and that form is a DR1C-- that the property manager would complete. That form will allow them to link your individual account to their account, and then it makes them required to file and remit those taxes that they're collecting from the tenants.

Christine:  If I do use a property manager, should I follow up with the Florida Department of Revenue to make sure that they are indeed filing those taxes?

Belinda:  I would, because when you register with the property manager and that account has been linked to us, the mailing address for all correspondence for that account would then be the property manager. Now, the individual unit owner will receive the certificate of registration that says their number and their effective opening date, but then after that, all of the information would go to the property manager. So it's probably good to follow up with it.

Also, if you're no longer using that property manager, then you would need to let us know that ‑‑ or the property manager let us know ‑‑ in writing. Send us some type of letter or statement that says that this property manager is no longer representing you, and then if the property manager does it, then they'll say the same. At that point your account then becomes your individual responsibility, and no longer the property manager';s.

Christine:  You know, I guess when it comes to anything that says "Department of Revenue" people get sort of squeamish about that. I think they'd rather go to the dentist and have a root canal.

Belinda:  We're not that bad!

Christine:  No, not at all! And I find Florida to be extremely accessible. I have, myself, picked up the phone and called plenty of times because I've had questions about my returns, and people are very accessible. The Tax Education Specialist department holds seminars for people, is that correct?

Belinda:  We do. We hold seminars throughout the state. There are 22 of us. On our website, which is MyFlorida.com, you can go to the link under "Taxes" that says "Free Tax Seminars," and all of the seminars that we offer are free. We will speak to your organization or your association, based on any industry that you require. Or you can come into the office and see what workshops we have available on an ongoing basis.

Christine:  Are the forms really complicated to fill out?

Belinda:  The forms aren't complicated, and every form that we have does come with a set of instructions. You just have to be familiar with the form. If you're not familiar, the offices throughout the state do offer classes on how to complete the tax return as well. So the educational opportunities are endless.

We also have an 800 number where you reach someone in Tallahassee, and you can ask them questions at any time. The 800 number is if you're from Florida only, but that number is 1‑800‑352‑3671. It's available from 8AM to 7PM EST (Eastern Standard Time). And then we also have another number for outside of the state of Florida, which is 850‑488‑6800. That number is accessible until 7PM EST (Eastern Standard Time), if you can't get someone in the local office.

Christine:  Excellent, excellent. Is there a way to file the taxes online?

Belinda:  Absolutely. We promote electronic filing, and we actually think that it's more convenient. It's just better and it's the wave of the future. If you're going through a property manager, the property manager most likely will file online because they have multiple accounts. That will be a monthly filing. You can file online, you can fill out the application to register online at the Web site MyFlorida.com/DOR and once you fill out the application online you'll receive all the information in the mail. Then you can register to file and pay online as well.

Christine:  I know that's really convenient. Because you are the Department of Revenue things have to be postmarked by the specific day and in Florida it's by the 20th of the month. It's not fun to have to race to the post office, so it is definitely easier to do it online, you just attach it to your bank account and the money comes out of that. Now, I have another question: In the state of Florida, is it required that I have to have a business license in order to run my vacation rental home?

Belinda:  I don't think that it's required for [you to have] a business license or an occupational license type. Now that is really governed by a different agency and you have to contact the business and professional regulations for the state of Florida and the Division of Hotels and Restaurants and they have a Public Lodging Division. The telephone number for them is (850) 487‑1395 and they will let you know if there is any special licensing requirement.

Christine:  Right.

Belinda:  Now, as far as the counties and the cities, that's going to be independent of every municipality throughout the state of Florida. But for the state licensing thing, you would need to contact them, and their applications are also online. They have a Web site, MyFlorida.com/DBPR.

Christine:  Excellent. Fabulous. Good to have all this information. Now, how often do we have to file those taxes?

Belinda:  When you're set up as a new business, in most cases, you will be quarterly. And a quarterly filing means that you will be filing every three months. We're set up on calendar year quarters, so for the period January, February and March, that revenue would be due in April, any time between April one and April 20, and the due dates are the first and the 20th of the month, following the end of that filing period. You do have the first 20 days to file and pay, and if the 20th falls on a weekend or legal holiday, you have until the next business day. However, if you're filing online, the filing dates are 5PM on the business day before the 20th. Could be as early as the 17^th or could be as late as the 19th, whatever that last business day is, by 5PM. One of the good things about online filing is that you can file early, you can go online, set up and file on the first, second, third, fourth, and then you can do what we call "warehouse" your payment, which is where you file the tax return, you receive a confirmation number, and you set the payment up to be made on the actual due date.

Christine:  Oh, that's nice.

Belinda:  So you're not filing and paying the money early, which is not really early, but people's perception of it is early because they think it's due on the 20th. The 20th is the absolute last day-- it's any time between the first and the 20th, but by filing online, you can file at any time, as long as it's timely, and then set that payment up to be made at a date in the future, as long as it is before the actual due date. So that's a good feature.

Christine:  Yeah, because nobody likes to pay any bills on time.

Belinda:  They don't, they don't, but you can still set it up, and then you can walk away, forget about it, if you're filing online and you don't have to worry about coming into the office, standing in line…

Christine:  Right.

Belinda:  …going to the post office, so it just works better for everyone.

Christine:  Ah, cool. Now, what is the sales tax rate for the state of Florida?

Belinda:  OK, the state sales tax rate is 6%.

Christine:  Huh.

Belinda:  Now, there's a discretionary sales tax surtax that differs for every county. The rates can be anywhere between .25% and 2.5%. So people will have a sales tax rate between 6% and it could be as high as 8.5%, but that's a discretionary sales surtax that will differentiate that.

Christine:  OK, I own properties in Walton County and Bay County and Okaloosa County, and the surtax is different. You know, one has, I think, one full percent, the other is half a percent, and, on top of that, I also have to file for the county. Now, to me it's confusing because I'm filling out a state sales tax form, and then I also have to, on that state sales tax, do a county surcharge, and then also file another form for the county. So I think that is pretty important to know, and that it can be confusing between the state and the county. Now, to my understanding, the states and counties do work together; can you explain that a little bit more?

Belinda:  Absolutely. It is confusing, because there is the state sales tax, then there's the discretionary sales surtax. Now, the discretionary sales surtax is filed on the sales tax return, whether it be a quarterly tax return or a monthly tax return, both of those taxes are coming in to us. But in addition to that, there are local taxes-- local option taxes-- that could consist of convention development or tourist development taxes. Now those taxes do go to the county for transient rent taxes only. However, some counties the state of Florida Department of Revenue will administer; some counties administer their own program. The only way to know that is to either contact the local service center, our 800 number, or if you go on our Web site and look up tax rates. There's a link there for the history of local sales tax and current rates, and under each county it will let you know what all the rates are, the breakdown for all of those rates, and then it will also let you know if the program is administered locally.

Christine:  Right.

Belinda:  If you are required to file a second tax return with the county, it will say "Local Administration," which means you have to file with us and the county. And if it doesn't say "Local Administration," then it means you'll just be filing the one return for all of those taxes with the Department of Revenue.

Christine:  Well, that wraps up this episode of the "How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner" podcast.