Does Florida Still Charge Sales Tax on Commercial Rent?
No. Florida repealed the sales tax on commercial rent effective October 1, 2025. If your landlord is still adding it to a storefront or office lease, that is an error and you should raise it.
This one is worth being precise about, because Florida was the only state in the country that taxed commercial rent, it was on the books for decades, and a great deal of the guidance still online was written while it was in force. If you search this question you will find plenty of pages confidently telling you the rate is 2 percent. That was true. It is not true now.
What actually happened
House Bill 7031 was signed on June 30, 2025 and repealed section 212.031 of the Florida Statutes. That removed the state sales tax on commercial real property rentals along with any local discretionary surtax that rode on top of it. The repeal took effect October 1, 2025.
The rate had been falling for years before that. It was cut repeatedly from 2017 onward and had reached 2 percent in June 2024. The 2025 bill finished the job.
One useful detail on timing: the repeal applies to rent for occupancy periods on and after October 1, 2025, regardless of when the rent was actually paid. So prepaying in September for an October period did not make it taxable.
What is still taxable
This is the part that matters most in the Keys, because several of the surviving categories are ordinary businesses down here. The repeal covered commercial real property rentals. It did not touch these, which sit under separate statutes:
| Still taxable | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Short-term rentals, generally periods under six months | Vacation rentals, and also the Monroe County tourist development tax on top |
| Boat slips and dockage | Marinas and anyone subletting a slip |
| Parking facilities | Paid lots and garages |
| Self-storage units | Storage operators |
If you run a marina or rent out slips, nothing changed for you. If you rent a shop on Duval or an office, it did.
What should I actually do about it?
- Check a recent invoice from your landlord. If sales tax is still itemized on base rent for a standard commercial lease, ask about it. Errors here have persisted at some property managers.
- Look at what you paid around the changeover. If you were charged on a post October 2025 period, that is potentially recoverable.
- Check how your bookkeeping is coded. If your chart of accounts still has a rent tax line posting automatically, it is producing wrong numbers.
- Do not assume it cleared your other obligations. This repeal has nothing to do with sales tax on what you sell, tourist development tax, or reemployment tax.
Does this change whether I should lease or buy?
At the margin, slightly. Removing a percentage point or two from the annual cost of occupancy makes leasing modestly cheaper than it was. It is not usually large enough to flip a decision on its own, and the bigger drivers here are still property insurance, hurricane exposure, and what you can actually find available. Worth a conversation if you are weighing it.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Florida commercial rent tax rate before it was repealed?
It had been reduced over several years and stood at 2 percent from June 2024 until the repeal took effect on October 1, 2025.
Do I still pay sales tax on a boat slip in Florida?
Yes. Boat slips and dockage were not part of the repeal and remain taxable under separate provisions, along with parking, self-storage, and short-term rentals.
Can I get back commercial rent tax I paid by mistake after October 2025?
Potentially. It depends on who collected it and how it was remitted. Bring your invoices and we can look at whether a refund claim is worth pursuing.
Does the repeal apply to my vacation rental?
No. Rentals of six months or less are treated as transient rentals and remain taxable, and in Monroe County the tourist development tax applies as well.
Let’s sit down and talk
If you are not sure whether you have been charged correctly, bring a lease and a few recent invoices and we will go through them. Call 305-363-5429 or contact Robert.
Related reading: the full Key West business owner tax guide, our plain-English Florida sales tax guide, and small business accounting services.
This article is general information current as of July 2026, not tax advice for your specific situation. Confirm current rules before you act on them.