How to register and file Florida sales tax for a restaurant

To collect Florida sales tax, a restaurant, cafe or bar registers each location with the Department of Revenue, either online or on Form DR-1, and then files a return for every reporting period, even when no tax is due. Returns are due on the 1st and are late after the 20th of the month that follows the period. Filing and paying electronically on time earns a small collection allowance.

How do you register for Florida sales tax?

The Department says a business that sells taxable items at retail must register each location. You can use the online registration system or submit a paper Florida Business Tax Application, Form DR-1. Register before you open, because collecting tax without a registration is a problem you do not want in your first month.

Have the following ready: your legal business name and structure, the federal employer identification number, the address of each location, the expected start date and the names of the owners or officers. If you buy an existing restaurant, ask the Department how the registration of the previous owner affects yours before you file.

How often do you file?

Filing frequency follows your annual sales tax collections. The Department sets it at:

• More than $1,000 collected: monthly
• $501 to $1,000: quarterly
• $101 to $500: semiannual
• $100 or less: annual

The Department tells you which frequency applies to you and when it changes, so read its letters when they arrive.

When is the return due?

Returns and payments are due on the 1st and are late after the 20th of the month following each reporting period. A return is required for every period, even a period with no tax due. For an electronic payment, you must start the payment and receive a confirmation number by 5 p.m. Eastern time on the business day before the 20th to avoid penalty and interest. That is earlier than many owners expect, so set the reminder for the 18th.

What is the collection allowance?

If you file and pay electronically on time, you may take a collection allowance of 2.5 percent of the first $1,200 of tax due, capped at $30 per reporting location. It is not a large amount, but it is free money for being on time, and a late return loses it. A business with three locations can take the allowance at each one.

How do you keep the books ready for the return?

1. Run a daily sales report by tax category, separating meals, alcohol, retail items and gift card sales.
2. Reconcile the tax collected in the register to the amount on the return each period.
3. Keep delivery and catering orders with the county they were delivered to, since the surtax follows the delivery location.
4. Save the confirmation number for every payment.
5. Keep the returns and the supporting reports together in one folder.

What should you do if you cannot pay in full?

File the return on time anyway and pay what you can. A late return and a late payment are separate problems, and filing on time keeps one of them off the list. Then call the Department about a payment arrangement before the next due date arrives, not after.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Skipping a return because there was no tax due.
• Paying on the 20th itself rather than the business day before.
• Using the wrong county for a second location.
• Forgetting to update the registration when you move, add a location or change the owner.
• Treating sales tax collected as the business's money when it belongs to the state.

What changes when you add a location or close one?

Each location registers separately, so a second restaurant needs its own registration and its own return, even if the same company owns both. Do this before the new location sells anything. If you close a location, tell the Department and file a final return for it. A closed location that keeps getting returns and notices is a quiet source of penalties.

If you sell the business, the Department needs to know that too. Ask your accountant how to handle the final return and whether the buyer must register in their own name. Keep your records after the sale, because the state can ask about periods when you were the owner.

What should your calendar look like?

Set three reminders for every filing period: one to run the sales report and reconcile the tax, one to start the electronic payment by the business day before the 20th, and one to save the confirmation number. If you file monthly, that is 36 reminders a year, and a bookkeeper can own them. Whoever owns them, write down who that is. The most common late filing is the one where everyone assumed somebody else was handling it, and the collection allowance is the small reward for getting it right every time.

More guides for your business:

• Florida restaurant sales tax: the 6 percent rate and county surtax
• Florida food handler training and food manager certification
• Florida restaurant inspections and the food service license

More in the US guides for food businesses.