Florida State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in Florida, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Did permanently installed conveyors and automated handling equipment in a food distribution center become tax-treated real-property improvements?
No. The conveyors, cranes, lifts, caddy picks, racking, and related handling system remained machinery and equipment because they moved or handled goods for commercial use and retained their identity.…
Did a city's direct-purchase documents make construction materials for a fire-station project exempt from Florida sales tax?
No. The controlling contract established only that the city would issue its own purchase orders. Its insurance ended when materials reached the jobsite, and the contract did not establish direct invoi…
Did a city's direct-purchase documents make construction materials for a road-extension project exempt from Florida sales tax?
No. The controlling contract established only that the city would issue its own purchase orders. Its insurance ended when materials reached the jobsite, and the contract did not establish direct invoi…
Did a city's proposed direct-purchase procedure exempt materials for an advanced wastewater-improvement project from Florida sales tax?
No. The documents addressed city purchase orders, direct payment, title, and insurance but did not require vendors to invoice the city directly. The agreement was also unexecuted, and any conclusion w…
Were separately stated assembly and portion-splitting fees taxable when a meal-assembly business sold raw food kits for customers to cook later?
No. The ready-to-cook kits contained raw grocery ingredients, were taken home for later cooking or freezing, and were not meals sold for immediate consumption. Because the kits were exempt food, separ…
Were charges to retrofit store lighting taxable to the customer, and who owed tax on the installed materials?
The retrofit charges were not subject to sales tax because replacing fixtures and wiring was a real-property improvement. The contractor was the consumer and had to pay tax on fabrication and material…
Was electricity used to process tomatoes at a packing house exempt when the building was separated from the farm's crops by a rail line?
Yes. The packing house stood on land assessed for agricultural use and was treated as contiguous to the farm even though a rail line separated it from the crops. Electricity used there to process toma…
Did an out-of-state jewelry seller create Florida sales-tax nexus through television, Internet sales, and its distribution relationships?
No, under the 2008 facts and legal standard applied in the advisement. The seller had no Florida property or employees, accepted orders outside Florida, shipped by common carrier, and used television-…
Which charges connected with renting, moving, and storing portable storage containers were subject to Florida sales tax?
Most charges were taxable. Mandatory transportation was part of the taxable container rental; container and equipment rentals, warehouse storage and access, damage waivers, moving supplies, and repair…
Could a Florida water authority buy construction materials tax-free through its owner-direct-purchase procedures?
Yes, for direct purchases from suppliers under the stated procedures and controlling contract terms. The authority had to issue the purchase order with its exemption number, receive direct invoices, p…
Did an exempt organization's direct-purchase agreement qualify its construction materials for Florida's sales-tax exemption?
No. The direct-purchase agreement was not clearly incorporated into the controlling construction contract, did not clearly make the exempt organization the purchase-order issuer, did not require direc…
Was a vehicle transfer from a single-member LLC to its owner taxable when the owner registered the vehicle in Florida?
Yes. Although the LLC was disregarded for federal income-tax filing, Florida treated it as a separate legal entity for non-income-tax purposes. Transferring the LLC-owned vehicle to the sole member fo…
Could a Canadian buyer receive Florida's export exemption after taking possession of a vehicle at the dealership and driving it to Canada?
No. Taking possession at the Florida dealership broke the continuous export process, and personally driving the vehicle to Canada did not restore the exemption. The buyer's export intent and later arr…
Should a locksmith separately charge Florida sales tax for replacing and rekeying permanently installed door locks?
No separate sales-tax line should have been charged to the customer. Florida classified the replacement, rekeying, and installation described in the invoice as a time-and-materials real-property contr…
Was a chemical absorbed into manufactured concrete roof tiles subject to Florida sales and use tax?
No. Engineering materials showed that more than 99% of the E-44 chemical was absorbed into the concrete roof tiles. Florida treated the incorporated chemical as an ingredient or component of tangible …
Who handled Florida tax when an out-of-state dealer sold through an unregistered out-of-state buyer and goods were drop-shipped to Florida?
It depended on where the goods were located when purchased. For goods shipped from a Florida facility, the registered dealer had to collect tax from the Florida customer because the unregistered buyer…
Was providing a crane with the owner's operator a taxable equipment rental or a nontaxable lifting service?
It was a nontaxable lifting service under the revised advisement. The owner's employee retained physical control and responsibility for crane operation and safety, while the customer could only specif…
When would a carrier's very light jets qualify for Florida's aircraft lease, repair, and maintenance tax exemptions?
The jets became qualified aircraft once the Part 135 carrier leased and operated at least 25 eligible very light jets in Florida. Lease payments due from acquisition of the 25th jet, plus qualifying r…
Were mandatory dues paid to a private recreational club exempt from Florida admissions tax as homeowners-association dues?
Only conditionally. The club had not established that it was a homeowners association. If it was one, and the dues were mandatory as a condition of owning or occupying real property with the facilitie…
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These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by Florida's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.