Guide: Vacation Rental Taxes

Florida vacation-rental income comes with two taxes owners need to get right. Miss them and you can owe back taxes plus penalties — so here's the plain version.

The two taxes

• State sales tax on short-term rental income.
• County tourist-development tax (the "bed tax") — set and collected at the county level.

Rates vary by county and change over time, so check the current numbers for your county before you rely on them.

Who collects what

Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit some of these taxes for you on bookings made through them — but coverage isn't always complete, and it varies. Anything they don't collect — and every direct booking — is your responsibility to collect and remit.

That gap is where owners get caught: assuming "the platform handles it" when only part of it was handled.

Getting it right

• Register for the state and county tax accounts.
• Know exactly what each channel collects vs. what you must remit.
• File and pay on schedule.
• Keep records per booking.