Sales Tax and the Seasonal Rental

Seasonal rentals are quite common in Florida. Before taking on seasonal rentals,you must understand and follow all the laws set forth by the Florida Department of Revenue, or you could be in for some trouble. Recently, the Department of Revenue, hereinafter DOR, has increased its auditing and has been catching quite a few seasonal rental owners by surprise. Most of these owners who were in noncompliance did not fail to collect the taxes intentionally, but simply failed to know the law and made a mistake.

This article will address only a small part of the requirements regarding the taxes in seasonal rentals, and we will concentrate on the “non-rent” items which are taxable. Most peope, if asked, will know that the “rent” is taxable on a seasonal rental ,but the DOR goes a bit farther, and there are big traps for the unwary. If you find after reading this article that you have not been properly collecting the taxes, we recommend you contact your accountant right away and see what the best approach would be to avoid bigger problems, if and when you are audited. If you are audited and found to be in noncompliance, you will be subject to the back taxes, interest and penalties. Often the penalties and interest will be waived by the DOR if the mistake was unintentional, but the back taxes could be substantial.

JCG Property Management is a full service Fort Lauderdale property management company. In need of a property manager for your seasonal or annual investment property. Contact Janice Correale Gomez at 954.847.1126 or visit www.fortlauderdalepropertymanagement.com for additional information. Janice Gomez is a licensed Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate on the 17th Street Causeway.