#1 – The Florida Annual Reports for corporations, limited liability companies, registered partnerships, and other business entities formed through the Florida Department of State – Division of Corporations1 are coming due.2Before May 1. Or a non-waivable $400 penalty will be applied to non-compliant profit corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and limited liability limited partnerships. (The penalty does not apply to non-profit corporations, although they do have to file Annual Reports.) Or the company can be administratively dissolved.
Now Who Does not Want to Pay a $400 Penalty?!?
There are no mailed reminders to file the Annual Report.3File the Annual report, and have a form of payment ready. But first be sure to review the filing instructions.
One thing to keep in mind – The Florida Annual Report process is done completely online. So… also be sure to have a stable internet connection.
OK, one last thing. – The whole Annual Report filing process should only take about 10 to 15 minutes per business entity.
#2 – Florida’s base sales and use tax rate remains at 6.0% in 2019, with exceptions. As described by the Florida Department of Revenue:
Florida’s general sales and use tax rate is 6% with the following exceptions: 4% on amusement machine receipts, 5.7% on the lease or license of commercial real property, and 6.95% on electricity.4
(Note that the sales tax on the lease or license of commercial real estate property has decreased in 2019 from 5.8% to 5.7%.5)
But the base sales and use tax is not the end of the story. Florida also allows its counties to impose percentage surtaxes on-top of the base sales tax. Each county can have a different surtax.Determine the applicable amount.
To consult with an experienced business law lawyer today
855-780-9986
If All that Were not Enough, the County Surtax is Capped as Follows:
Discretionary sales surtax applies to the first $5,000 of the sales amount on the sale, use, lease, rental, or license to use any item of tangible personal property. Tangible personal property is personal property that you can see, weigh, measure, or touch; or that is in any manner perceptible to the senses, including electricity. The $5,000 cap does not apply to rentals of real property, transient rentals, or services.6
Many (alright, most) people think the federal income tax system is complex. Who would have thought that a little sales tax could also be complicated?
One thing to keep in mind – The Florida Annual Report process is done completely online. So… also be sure to have a stable internet connection.
#3 (but the title to this piece said there were two topics…): Since 2019 has begun this series has already focused attention of the activities of Florida’s new Governor, Ron DeSantis.7 Now, in the interest of tightening the scope of Florida’s government and its impact on the state’s businesses, the Governor is holding a “Deregathon”.
As Described in The Orlando Sentinel:
DeSantis will meet with members of Florida’s 23 professional licensing boards at Valencia College in Orlando on Jan. 31 along with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and business secretary Halsey Beshears for the first “Florida Deregathon,” in which the boards will try to find regulations they can immediately eliminate…There will be no official vote or action taken by the boards at the event, DeSantis’s office said, though they will try to find “unnecessary” regulations that can be easily cut.8
More to follow. There is always something interesting happening in Florida!
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2 https://dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/
3 See https://dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/manage-business/efile/annual-report/
4 http://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/tax_interest_rates.aspx
5 https://revenuelaw.floridarevenue.com/LawLibraryDocuments/2018/08/TIP-121959_TIP%2018A01-14%20FINAL%20RLL.pdf
6 http://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/discretionary.aspx
8 https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-desantis-deregathon-20190124-story.html
– For more information, call Philip N. Kabler of the Gainesville, FL office of Bogin, Munns & Munns at 352.332.7688, where he practices in the areas of business, banking, real estate, and equine law. He has taught business and real estate law courses at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Warrington College of Business Administration. And is now the President-Elect of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association.
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NOTICE: The article above is not intended to serve as legal advice, and you should not rely on it as such. It is offered only as general information. You should consult with a duly licensed attorney regarding your Florida legal matter, as every situation is unique. Please know that merely reading this article, subscribing to this blog, or otherwise contacting Bogin, Munns & Munns does not establish an attorney-client relationship with our firm. Should you seek legal representation from Bogin, Munns & Munns, any such representation must first be agreed to by the firm and confirmed in a written agreement.
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