The Florida real estate sales tax is going down, and storage operators will have some work to do before it goes into effect on January 1, 2018. The state-level tax will be reduced from 6 percent to 5.8 percent for rental payments received for occupancy periods beginning on or after January 1, 2018.
Since most self storage spaces are rented on a month-to-month basis, the lower tax will apply to January 2018 rents. This tax reduction is minuscule; a tenant only saves 20 cents per month on a space that rents for $100 per month. It also creates an administrative headache for self storage operators who must modify systems to calculate the tax correctly. Operators will need to modify their accounting software, so that they are charging the correct sales tax on January 2018 rents.
While the state level sales tax is being reduced, the change does not affect the local option surtax. For example, Miami-Dade County imposes a 1-percent local sales tax, and the total tax on self storage facility rents will fall from 7 percent to 6.8 percent.