Tourist Development Tax

Tourist Development Tax is a 5% tax on the total rental amount collected from every person or other party who rents, leases, or lets for consideration living quarters or accommodation in any hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment, apartment motel, rooming house, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, or condominiums for a period of 6 months or less. This tax is collected by the Monroe County Tax Collector pursuant to Monroe County Code, Chapter 23, “Taxation,” Article VI, as authorized by Florida Statute 125.0104. The local Tourist Development Tax is in addition to the 7.5% State of Florida Sales and Use Tax remitted to the Florida Department of Revenue.

Any person (business) who rents or leases any transient accommodations for a period of 6 months or less.

The Tourist Development Tax is 5% of the gross monthly revenue. Any separately stated mandatory charges to the guests are considered part of the total consideration to rent the transient accommodation, and therefore, are taxable.

Credit card fees MAY NOT be deducted from the gross rentals (Section 501.0117(1), Florida Statutes). A seller or lessor may not impose a surcharge on the buyer or lessee for using a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar means, if the seller or lessor accepts payment by credit card. A surcharge is any additional amount imposed at the time of a sale or lease transaction by the seller or lessor that increases the charge to the buyer or lessee for the privilege of using a credit card to make payment.

Taxable charges include but are not limited to:

• Room rate
• Cleaning fees
• Pet fees
• Traveler service fees
• Processing fees
• Resort fees
• In-room safe fees
• Cribs
• Rollaway beds
• Refrigerators
• Microwaves

Non-taxable charges include:

• Damage deposits
• Optional travel insurance

Any person who has entered into a bona fide written lease for longer than six (6) months in duration for continuous residence.

Any person who has continuously resided for 6 months and has paid the tax imposed for this time shall become exempt on the seventh month and every month thereafter provided he or she continues to reside at the same location.

Anyone who is exempt from paying state sales tax. These include federal government employees and other government agencies (state, county, city, etc.), full-time students, active duty military personnel, churches, and nonprofit organizations that have a sales tax exemption number from the Florida Department of Revenue.

The tourist development tax is due to the Tax Collector's Office monthly. It is due on the 1st day of the month following the reporting period and becomes delinquent if not paid or postmarked by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. All owners/operators must submit a return even if no taxes were collected for the month.

If the return and payment are not filed with the Tax Collector by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period, the tax is considered delinquent. This applies to individuals filing online through Tourist Express as well.  The penalty is 10% of the tax due for each month or a fraction of a month that the return is delinquent. The penalty is a minimum of $50 and up to a maximum of 50% of the tax due. The interest rate is variable. You will need to contact the Tourist Development Tax Department at (305) 295-5058 for the current rate.

Notify the Tourist Development Tax Department by emailing jgil@monroetaxcollector.com or sroberts@monroetaxcollector.com and include the date you terminated, the location of the property, the owner's name and their current mailing address. The tourist tax account will be updated.

For your convenience, we allow online payments for Tourist Development Tax through Tourist Express. Property owners that have signed up for Tourist Express are entitled to deduct 2.5% of the first $1,200.00 of tax due, or a maximum of $30.00 if the return is paid by the 20^th day of the month following the reporting period. In order to be eligible for Tourist Express, the property owner must already have an active Tourist Development Tax account.

Click here to sign up for Tourist Express