Florida’s Unique Sales Tax on Commercial Rent Will Be Eliminated on October 1, 2025

Prior to Governor Desantis’s execution of House Bill 7031 on June 30, 2025 – which repeals the state-wide sales tax upon rent collected pursuant to commercial leases – Florida was the only state to implement a state-wide sales tax on rentals of or licenses in real property pursuant to commercial leases.

The state sales tax rate imposed under Section 212.031, Florida Statutes, was once as high as 6%, but was reduced incrementally over the past few years, with the most recent reduction dropping the tax rate from 4.5% to 2.0% on July 1, 2024.  This 2.0% tax rate (plus any applicable discretionary sales surtax) will still apply to all rental charges due under commercial leases for rental periods that entitle the tenant to occupy the property through September 30, 2025.

However, the upcoming change to the State’s commercial rent taxation laws will eliminate any sales tax due on commercial rentals of real property attributable to rental periods that entitle the tenant to occupy the real property on or after October 1, 2025, including any discretionary sales surtax payable to the county in which such rental property is located.

If you have any questions or if you would like to speak with an attorney about the content of this article, please contact Jeremy R. Sokol at jsokol@shuffieldlowman.com.