Leases

• When someone leases out real estate, state law says the lessee has to pay sales tax on the rental transaction to her landlord; if the rental is paid in goods, merchandise or services, the tax should equal 6 percent of the value of those goods or services. If the lessee pays property taxes, the state includes that in the taxable value: The intent, according to the Department of Revenue, is to tax all the benefits flowing to the landlord from the lease.
  
  

Scope

• The sales tax applies to leases, rentals, licenses or simply informal agreements allowing someone to use a piece of land. Florida law allows for a number of exceptions: Residential property, agricultural property, streets, landing areas, property leased out for making a motion picture and property used for spaceflight. Where a property falls into multiple categories, the state will assess how much is taxable: If you lease property for a senior housing complex, for instance, you'll face no sales tax on the part of the lease covering the residents' rooms, but other areas might be taxable.
  
  

Details

• Property tax isn't the only extra expense the lessee may have to pay tax on. Florida taxes the "total consideration" paid for the property. That can include parking fees, utility charges, common-area maintenance and cleaning charges, as long as they're a mandatory part of the lease; the tax doesn't apply if they're optional. If you lease submerged lands -- river bottoms or lakes, for example -- for your business, this also counts as a taxable lease, even though your lessor is the state government.
  
  

Considerations

• If you owe sales tax on your rental, the state Department of Revenue says you should pay it to your landlord whenever you make the lease payment. If you make property tax payments, the tax becomes due whenever you make the payment to your county government. The landlord should keep track of your various payments and the tax on them using the cash method of accounting: Money goes on the books when it's paid, not when it's owed.