Florida use tax is the sales tax catch-up

Use tax is the part of Florida sales tax that people forget because it does not always happen at a store counter.

It can come up when Florida would tax an item, but sales tax was not paid, and the item is then used here. That can mean an item bought here with no tax charged. It can also mean an item bought outside Florida and brought here, or an item delivered into Florida.

For most shoppers, the simple move is to keep receipts for larger purchases. Check whether tax was already collected. For a business, keep purchase records, resale certificate records, and notes about items later used by the business.

Do not guess from the box, the website, or the shipping label. The receipt is the clue. Look at the tax line and Florida Revenue’s sales and use tax information. If the purchase is large or tied to a business, ask a tax professional before treating it as settled.