Three Taxes, One Guest Payment

A guest pays one number. That number contains three separate taxes, going to two different agencies, on two different returns, with two different sets of penalties.

Nobody explains this, which is why it produces more assessment letters than anything else in the business.

The line that pulls you in

Six months is the switch. Under it, all three taxes apply. Over it, none of the transient ones do. It is about the length of the stay — not the platform, not how often you do it, not whether you call yourself a business.

Tax one: state sales tax

Six percent, statewide, and it applies to the taxable rental charge — which includes your cleaning fee. That surprises people. If the guest has to pay it to get the room, the state generally treats it as part of the rent.

Tax two: the county surtax

It rides along with the state tax and is filed on the same return, which is exactly why owners forget it exists as a separate thing. You are not filing twice; you are filing one return whose rate is 6% plus whatever your county adds.

Across Orange, Osceola and Polk this puts the state-side total somewhere around 6.5% to 7.5%. Confirm your own county’s current rate — these are set by ordinance and they move.

Got it? Here is the one that actually generates the letters.

Tax three: tourist development tax

Typically 5% to 6% in Central Florida. Different agency, different registration, different portal, different return, different penalties. Nothing about your state filing touches it.

What it adds up to

Roughly 13% on top of the rental charge. On a house doing $72,000 a year that is about $9,400 passing through your account that belongs to somebody else.