Florida restaurant sales tax: the 6 percent rate and county surtax

A Florida restaurant, cafe or bar charges the state sales tax rate of 6 percent and then adds the discretionary sales surtax of the county where the sale is delivered. The county add-on varies from county to county, so two businesses selling the same plate of food can charge different totals. The Department of Revenue publishes the county rates once a year on Form DR-15DSS, and your register has to match the table for your county.

What is the Florida sales tax rate on restaurant meals?

The state rate is 6 percent, according to the Department of Revenue's sales and use tax page. Florida generally taxes the meals and drinks a restaurant sells. Ask the Department how it treats takeout, delivery and packaged goods, which matters if your cafe sells items off a shelf beside the counter.

Collecting the tax is your job, not the guest's. If the register under-charges, the state can bill your business for the shortfall, so the rate is worth checking more than once a year.

How does the county discretionary surtax work?

Counties may add a discretionary sales surtax on top of the state rate. The Department explains that it applies to most taxable sales and is based on where the item is delivered or sold. For some single transactions only the first $5,000 is subject to the surtax, which almost never matters at a restaurant table but can matter for a large catering order.

The 2025 table on Form DR-15DSS shows the following county totals. Treat them as a starting point and confirm the current table before you set a rate:

• Miami-Dade: 1 percent
• Broward: 1 percent
• Palm Beach: 1 percent
• Hillsborough (Tampa): 1.5 percent
• Duval (Jacksonville): 1.5 percent
• Orange (Orlando): 0.5 percent

Some counties have more than one surtax running at once, each with its own start and end date. A surtax can expire or be renewed, so a rate that was right in January may not be right in July.

What does a combined rate look like in Miami-Dade?

In Miami-Dade, the 6 percent state rate and the 1 percent county surtax give a combined 7 percent on a taxable meal, based on the 2025 table. A $50 check carries $3.50 of tax, and a $50 check in Orlando, with a 0.5 percent surtax, carries $3.25. The difference is small on one table and large across a year of covers, which is why a business with two locations in two counties needs two rate settings.

How do you find the right rate for your address?

The Department publishes the county table every November, so the new rates for January are known before they start. Use this routine:

1. Download the current Form DR-15DSS each November.
2. Find the county where each location sits, not the county of your mailing address.
3. Check the effective and expiration dates beside the rate.
4. Update the register and the online ordering menu on the same day.
5. Print a test receipt and check the tax line against a hand calculation.

If you deliver, the surtax follows the delivery location, so a delivery across a county line can carry a different surtax than your restaurant's own. Ask your point of sale provider whether it sets the rate by delivery address or by store.

What about tips, service charges and delivery fees?

A voluntary tip chosen by the guest is not part of the sales price. A mandatory charge, such as an automatic gratuity or a delivery fee, is more complicated, and Florida has separate disclosure rules for those charges. The guides on the tax treatment of large-party gratuities and on the operations charge disclosure law cover them.

What mistakes cost restaurants money?

• Using the state rate alone and forgetting the surtax.
• Using the headquarters county for a location in another county.
• Missing a January change because the November table was never read.
• Treating a gift card sale as a taxable sale without checking the Department's guidance.
• Letting online ordering and the in-store register run on different rates.

Keep a dated copy of the table you used for each year. If the Department ever asks why a rate was applied, a saved copy of the official table is the best answer.

How should you explain the tax to guests and staff?

Guests rarely ask about the surtax, but servers get asked why the total on a check in one county differs from a friend's in the next. Give staff a one-line answer: Florida charges a 6 percent state rate, and the county adds its own surtax, which the state sets by county. If your business has a location near a county line, put the rate on the check as a separate tax line so nobody thinks the restaurant is adding a fee.

For catering, write the county into the quote. A corporate lunch delivered to an office in Hillsborough County carries a different surtax than the same lunch delivered in Orange County, and a quote that ignored it leaves your business paying the difference. Add the delivery address to the order record so your bookkeeper can sort sales by county at the end of the month.

What should you do when a surtax expires or changes?

The table shows an expiration date beside each surtax, and some counties have several layers that end in different years. When a layer ends, the combined rate falls on its last day, and the register must change that day. Put the expiration dates for your county in your calendar with a reminder a month ahead, and read the November table to see whether a new vote has changed anything. If you sell through a delivery marketplace, ask how it sets the rate on orders and whether it handles the tax for you, because the answer decides whose job the surtax is.

More guides for your business:

• How to register and file Florida sales tax for a restaurant
• Florida mandatory gratuities and sales tax for large parties
• Florida operations charge disclosure law for restaurants

More in the US guides for food businesses.