(1)(a) It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages in the business of renting, leasing, letting, or granting a license to use any living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations in, from, or a part of, or in connection with any hotel, apartment house, roominghouse, tourist or trailer camp, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, condominium, or timeshare resort. However, any person who rents, leases, lets, or grants a license to others to use, occupy, or enter upon any living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations in any apartment house, roominghouse, tourist camp, trailer camp, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, condominium, or timeshare resort and who exclusively enters into a bona fide written agreement for continuous residence for longer than 6 months in duration at such property is not exercising a taxable privilege. For the exercise of such taxable privilege, a tax is hereby levied in an amount equal to 6 percent of and on the total rental charged for such living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations by the person charging or collecting the rental. Such tax shall apply to hotels, apartment houses, roominghouses, tourist or trailer camps, mobile home parks, recreational vehicle parks, condominiums, or timeshare resorts, whether or not these facilities have dining rooms, cafes, or other places where meals or lunches are sold or served to guests.
(b)1. Tax shall be due on the consideration paid for occupancy in the county pursuant to a regulated short-term product, as defined in s. 721.05, or occupancy in the county pursuant to a product that would be deemed a regulated short-term product if the agreement to purchase the short-term right was executed in this state. Such tax shall be collected on the last day of occupancy within the county unless such consideration is applied to the purchase of a timeshare estate. The occupancy of an accommodation of a timeshare resort pursuant to a timeshare plan, a multisite timeshare plan, or an exchange transaction in an exchange program, as defined in s. 721.05, by the owner of a timeshare interest or such owner’s guest, which guest is not paying monetary consideration to the owner or to a third party for the benefit of the owner, is not a privilege subject to taxation under this section. A membership or transaction fee paid by a timeshare owner that does not provide the timeshare owner with the right to occupy any specific timeshare unit but merely provides the timeshare owner with the opportunity to exchange a timeshare interest through an exchange program is a service charge and not subject to taxation under this section.
2. Consideration paid for the purchase of a timeshare license in a timeshare plan, as defined in s. 721.05, is rent subject to taxation under this section.
(2) The tax provided for herein shall be in addition to the total amount of the rental, shall be charged by the lessor or person receiving the rent in and by said rental arrangement to the lessee or person paying the rental, and shall be due and payable at the time of the receipt of such rental payment by the lessor or person, as defined in this chapter, who receives said rental or payment. The owner, lessor, or person receiving the rent shall remit the tax to the department at the times and in the manner hereinafter provided for dealers to remit taxes under this chapter. The same duties imposed by this chapter upon dealers in tangible personal property respecting the collection and remission of the tax; the making of returns; the keeping of books, records, and accounts; and the compliance with the rules and regulations of the department in the administration of this chapter shall apply to and be binding upon all persons who manage or operate hotels, apartment houses, roominghouses, tourist and trailer camps, and the rental of condominium units, and to all persons who collect or receive such rents on behalf of such owner or lessor taxable under this chapter.
(3) When rentals are received by way of property, goods, wares, merchandise, services, or other things of value, the tax shall be at the rate of 6 percent of the value of the property, goods, wares, merchandise, services, or other things of value.
(4) The tax levied by this section shall not apply to, be imposed upon, or collected from any person who shall have entered into a bona fide written lease for longer than 6 months in duration for continuous residence at any one hotel, apartment house, roominghouse, tourist or trailer camp, or condominium, or to any person who shall reside continuously longer than 6 months at any one hotel, apartment house, roominghouse, tourist or trailer camp, or condominium and shall have paid the tax levied by this section for 6 months of residence in any one hotel, roominghouse, apartment house, tourist or trailer camp, or condominium. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, no tax shall be imposed upon rooms provided guests when there is no consideration involved between the guest and the public lodging establishment. Further, any person who, on the effective date of this act, has resided continuously for 6 months at any one hotel, apartment house, roominghouse, tourist or trailer camp, or condominium, or, if less than 6 months, has paid the tax imposed herein until he or she shall have resided continuously for 6 months, shall thereafter be exempt, so long as such person shall continuously reside at such location. The Department of Revenue shall have the power to reform the rental contract for the purposes of this chapter if the rental payments are collected in other than equal daily, weekly, or monthly amounts so as to reflect the actual consideration to be paid in the future for the right of occupancy during the first 6 months.
(5) The tax imposed by this section shall constitute a lien on the property of the lessee or rentee of any sleeping accommodations in the same manner as and shall be collectible as are liens authorized and imposed by ss. 713.68 and 713.69.
(6) The Legislature finds that every person who leases or rents parking or storage spaces for motor vehicles in parking lots or garages, including storage facilities for towed vehicles, who leases or rents docking or storage spaces for boats in boat docks or marinas, or who leases or rents tie-down or storage space for aircraft at airports is engaging in a taxable privilege.
(a) For the exercise of this privilege, a tax is hereby levied at the rate of 6 percent on the total rental charged.
(b) Charges for parking, docking, tie-down, or storage arising from a lawful impoundment are not subject to taxation under this subsection. As used in this paragraph, the term “lawful impoundment” means the storing of or having custody over an aircraft, boat, or motor vehicle by, or at the direction of, a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency which the owner or the owner’s representative is not authorized to enter upon, have access to, or remove without the consent of the law enforcement agency.
(7)(a) Full-time students enrolled in an institution offering postsecondary education and military personnel currently on active duty who reside in the facilities described in subsection (1) shall be exempt from the tax imposed by this section. The department shall be empowered to determine what shall be deemed acceptable proof of full-time enrollment. The exemption contained in this subsection shall apply irrespective of any other provisions of this section. The tax levied by this section shall not apply to or be imposed upon or collected on the basis of rentals to any person who resides in any building or group of buildings intended primarily for lease or rent to persons as their permanent or principal place of residence.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this subsection provide tax relief for persons who rent living accommodations rather than own their homes, while still providing a tax on the rental of lodging facilities that primarily serve transient guests.
(c) The rental of facilities, as defined in s. 212.02(10)(f), which are intended primarily for rental as a principal or permanent place of residence is exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter. The rental of such facilities that primarily serve transient guests is not exempt by this subsection. In the application of this law, or in making any determination against the exemption, the department shall consider the facility as primarily serving transient guests unless the facility owner makes a verified declaration on a form prescribed by the department that more than half of the total rental units available are occupied by tenants who have a continuous residence in excess of 3 months. The owner of a facility declared to be exempt by this paragraph must make a determination of the taxable status of the facility at the end of the owner’s accounting year using any consecutive 3-month period at least one month of which is in the accounting year. The owner must use a selected consecutive 3-month period during each annual redetermination. In the event that an exempt facility no longer qualifies for exemption by this paragraph, the owner must notify the department on a form prescribed by the department by the 20th day of the first month of the owner’s next succeeding accounting year that the facility no longer qualifies for such exemption. The tax levied by this section shall apply to the rental of facilities that no longer qualify for exemption under this paragraph beginning the first day of the owner’s next succeeding accounting year. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to mobile home lots regulated under chapter 723.
(d) The rental of living accommodations in migrant labor camps is not taxable under this section. “Migrant labor camps” are defined as one or more buildings or structures, tents, trailers, or vehicles, or any portion thereof, together with the land appertaining thereto, established, operated, or used as living quarters for seasonal, temporary, or migrant workers.
...cise of which privilege the said enactment levies a privilege tax in an "amount equal to three per cent of and on the * * * rental charged for such * * * accommodations by the person charging or collecting the rental." Section 3-a of the act, F.S.A. § 212.03(1)....
...n six months at ony one hotel, apartment house, rooming house, tourist or trailer camp, and shall have paid the tax levied by this section for six months of residence in any one hotel, rooming house, apartment house, tourist or trailer camp." F.S.A. § 212.03(4)....
...The terms of the written lease agreement shifted the burden from Noriega to Schnurmacher for the payment of ad valorem taxes assessed against the property. However, there was no provision obligating either party to pay *1328 the sales tax on the lease imposed by section 212.031, Florida Statutes (1985)....
...Noriega filed a motion in circuit court to vacate, modify, and correct the arbitrator's award. Noriega argued that the arbitrator had exceeded his authority because his decision resulted in a rewrite of the contract between the parties in a manner that contravened section 212.031(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1985)....
...The district court found that none of the statutorily enumerated grounds of section 682.13(1), Florida Statutes (1985), existed for vacating the award and further found that the arbitrator had not exceeded his powers. Nonetheless, the district court held that both the trial court and the arbitrator had misapplied section 212.031, and therefore reversed as a matter of law....
...The facts of this case make it unnecessary to examine the merits of Oven. However, we find that we must, as a matter of great public importance, disapprove that decision. In Oven the First District Court of Appeal held that when a commercial lease is silent as to the party responsible for payment of the tax imposed by section 212.03, Florida Statutes, [*] the obligation to pay the tax is on the lessor. Oven, 419 So.2d at 1187. It is evident from the language of both section 212.03 and section 212.031 that the burden is on the lessor to remit the tax to the state. §§ 212.03(2), 212.031(3). We believe it is equally clear that the plain language of these statutes and the public policy of this state require the lessee to pay the tax. §§ 212.03(2), 212.031(2)(a), 212.031(3). Gaulden v. Kirk, 47 So.2d 567 (Fla. 1950). The statute imposes a duty on the lessor or other person receiving the rental payments under the lease agreement to collect the tax from the lessee "in addition" to the rent. §§ 212.03(2), 212.031(3). Notwithstanding that section 212.031 places the obligation to pay the sales tax on the lessee, the award of the arbitrator in this case cannot be vacated....
...Furthermore, for the reasons expressed in this opinion, we disapprove the decision of the first district in Oven v. Dawirs . It is so ordered. EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW and GRIMES, JJ., and DOUGLASS B. SHIVERS and J. KLEIN WIGGINTON, Associate Justices, concur. NOTES [*] Section 212.03, Florida Statutes (1985), imposes a tax on transient rentals.
Cited 49 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...that in administering its provisions, the Department of Revenue will be forced to determine what the law is. Appellant further contends that the act was not intended to be read in pari materia with chapter 212, Florida Statutes, or more particularly section 212.03, Florida Statutes, and that such is demonstrated by the contradictory provisions of the two....
...to apply to the administration of *988 taxes levied under the former. Second, because section 125.0104(3)(f) provides that the receipt, accounting for, and remitting of taxes collected pursuant to the act is to be in the time and manner provided by section 212.03, Florida Statutes....
Cited 6 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...en, the supreme court did make the observation that the sales tax was a tax against the buyer rather than the seller. However, in Green v. Panama City Housing Authority, 115 So.2d 560 (Fla. 1959), the court held that the tax on rentals prescribed by section 212.03, Florida Statutes, was an excise tax levied upon landlords for the privilege of doing business in the state and receded from any language to the contrary in Spencer v....
Cited 5 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2008 WL 2387991
...the responsibilities of auditing, enforcing, assessing, and collecting the TDT. Orange County, Fla., Code, *625 § 25-137. Accordingly, the provisions of Chapter 212, Florida Statutes, including the legal principles governing the transient tax under section 212.03, Florida Statutes, are applicable and binding upon the County and the Comptroller in the administration and enforcement of the County's TDT....
...consideration received by a "dealer" (as that term is defined in Florida law including section 212.06(2)(j), Florida Statutes and Florida Administrative Code Rule 12A-1.060(3)) for the letting of the living quarters or accommodations. Further, under section 212.03(1), Florida Statutes, tax is levied on "the total rental charged for ......
Cited 5 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida
...Stat., F.S.A., but even if a business, as defined therein, it was exempt from collecting the sales tax on the rental of its living units, as it was not engaged in the "business of renting, leasing or letting any living quarters" to its transient or permanent guests, as defined in §§ 212.02 (6), 212.03(1). This point is also without merit. It further urges that even if The Surf Club was within the provisions of § 212.03(1) as a lessor, it had leases on its rental units for terms in excess of six months, and that the tenants had the right to occupy these premises throughout the period and, therefore, no sales tax would be due on the term of the leases in excess of six months, pursuant to the provisions of § 212.03(4)....
Cited 4 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...of Oven, Gwynn & Lewis, Tallahassee, for appellant. Everett P. Anderson, Tallahassee, for appellee. *1187 JOANOS, Judge. This appeal involves the apparently novel question of whether, when a commercial lease is silent as to the party responsible for payment of the tax imposed by Section 212.03, Florida Statutes, the burden of payment falls on the landlord or the tenant. We affirm the judgment of the trial court and adopt the reasoning for the result expressed in the final judgment. Section 212.031(3) provides, in pertinent part: The tax imposed by this section shall be in addition to the total amount of the rental and shall be charged by the lessor or person receiving the rent in and by a rental arrangement with the lessee or p...
...agreement entered into between them, ... such burden rests upon the lessor. We reach this conclusion for the reason that the lessor bears ultimate responsibility and liability to the State for the payment of such tax and for the further reason that Section 212.031(1)(a), F.S....
...Statutes?
And, we answer the rephrased certified question in the negative.
In answering the rephrased certified question, we examined the TDT’s plain
language and its antecedent statute, the Transient Rental Tax (hereinafter “TRT”).
See § 212.03, Fla....
...Such tax shall apply to hotels,
apartment houses, roominghouses, tourist or trailer camps, mobile
home parks, recreational vehicle parks, condominiums, or timeshare
resorts, whether or not these facilities have dining rooms, cafes, or
other places where meals or lunches are sold or served to guests.
§ 212.03(1)(a), Fla....
Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2002 WL 63407
...Because we do not agree with the legal analysis by the trial court relating to the Hales' claimed exemption from sales tax, we reverse and remand. I. The Hales lease rental units, known as the Edgewood Apartments, on a month-to-month basis, using a written lease agreement. The trial court reviewed section 212.03, Florida Statutes (1997), and interpreted it to require a lease "in excess of six months" or tenants who were "full-time students or military personnel" to receive an exemption from sales tax on rental income. Because the Hales use a month-to-month lease instead of one that exceeds six months, and do not claim an exemption for tenants who are students or military personnel, the trial court ruled that the Hales are not entitled to an exemption under section 212.03. The Hales argue that they are exempt pursuant to the last sentence of section 212.03(7)(a). Section 212.03(7), Florida Statutes (1997) states: (7)(a) Full-time students enrolled in an institution offering postsecondary education and military personnel currently on active duty who reside in the facilities described in subsection (1) shall be exempt from the tax imposed by this section....
..."Migrant labor camps" are defined as one or more buildings or structures, tents, trailers, or vehicles, or any portion thereof, together with the land appertaining thereto, established, operated, or used as living quarters for seasonal, temporary, or migrant workers. Emphasis added. The Department argues that sections 212.03(1) and 212.03(4) (providing an exemption for any person who rents to others using a written lease for longer than six months) should be read in pari materia with 212.03(7)(a) to require a six month written lease for an exemption under (7)(a)....
...See Ch. 79-359, § 2, at 1840, Laws of Fla. This history indicates that the Legislature did not intend to modify the exemption for full-time students and military personnel. We rule that the last sentence of 7(a) provides a separate exemption within section 212.03, without a requirement for a written lease exceeding six months....
...ion even though there may be one person who makes it their permanent or principal place of residence. III. We reverse and remand to the trial court for further proceedings to determine *243 whether the Hales are entitled to the exemption provided by section 212.03(7)(a), and thus whether they are subject to audit....
Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2007 WL 4438876
...tled to attorney's fees. The parties each filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court denied the motion filed by the Hales and granted the motion filed by DOR. The court agreed with DOR that the applicable exemption from tax was contained in section 212.03(4), Florida Statutes (1997), [2] and required leases in excess of six months, and that the Hales' reliance upon the last sentence of section 212.03(7)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), [3] was misplaced as it did not *521 support a claim of exemption. The Hales appealed. This court reversed and remanded, Hale v. Department of Revenue, 808 So.2d 237 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002), holding that section 212.03(7)(a) provided a separate exemption from tax where the apartments constitute the "permanent or principal place of residence" of the tenants and that it was not necessary to have leases in excess of six months as required by section 212.03(4) to be entitled to the exemption provided by section 212.03(7)(a)....
...cies, must serve a copy of the pleading claiming the fees on the Department of Insurance; and thereafter the department shall be entitled to participate with the agency in the defense of the suit and any appeal thereof with respect to such fees. [2] Section 212.03(4), Florida Statutes (1997), provides in pertinent part: The tax levied by this section shall not apply to, be imposed upon, or collected from any person who shall have entered into a bona fide written lease for longer than 6 months in...
..., apartment house, roominghouse, tourist or trailer camp, or condominium and shall have paid the tax levied by this section for 6 months of residence in any one hotel, roominghouse, apartment house, tourist or trailer camp, or condominium. . . . [3] Section 212.03(7)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), provides: Full-time students enrolled in an institution offering postsecondary education and military personnel currently on active duty who reside in the facilities described in subsection (1) shall be exempt from the taxed imposed by this section....
...In short, appellants' argument is that, because hotels and motels are engaged in the business of renting rooms, including their contents, they are actually engaged in the "resale" of the tangible personal property purchased to furnish those rooms. Section 212.03, Florida Statutes (1991), addresses what is known as the "transient rentals tax." Subsection (1) reads: It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages in the business...
...ooms is imposed upon the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, pursuant to section 212.05(1)(a)1.a.; whereas the tax imposed upon the rental of guest rooms is imposed upon the privilege of operating a hotel or motel, pursuant to section 212.03....
...privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, pursuant to section 212.05(1)(a)1.a., Florida Statutes (1991); whereas the tax imposed upon the rental of guest rooms is imposed upon the privilege of operating a hotel or motel, pursuant to section 212.03....
is due under § 212.03, Fla.Stat. We cannot agree with this interpretation. Section 212.03 provides that
This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.
