Chances are that not everyone who purchases an RV from you will reside in Florida. In fact, because Florida tends to be home for a large “snow-bird” population, it is not uncommon for some of your customers to be from other states. This brings us to the question of sales tax. When and how much do you charge?
Let us first consider whether your customer is buying an RV to drive it off the lot or have it shipped home. If they are having it shipped back to their home state, you don’t need to worry about collecting sales tax. However, if they are going to drive it off your lot and intend to title and register it in another state, chances are you should be collecting sales tax.
If you will be collecting sales tax, you will need to find out how much is appropriate based on where they live (click here for a list by state). Depending on where they will title and register their vehicle the percentage of tax can range from 0% to more than 6%. If they live in a state with higher taxes, please note that you are only allowed to tax them up to 6% and are not permitted to tax them on the entirety of their state’s rate. Your customer will need to sign a Florida Department of Revenue DR 123 Form and have it notarized. This applies to what we call “reciprocal” states of Florida. Unfortunately, if your customer is residing in Arkasnsas, Mississippi or West Virginia they cannot use the sales tax credit. This means they will be charged up to 6% in Florida and charged again for the full amount of sales tax in their home state for their purchase. Not everyone is well versed in taxes so if your customer is from one of the above mentioned states, please take the time to explain they will owe taxes in both states.
If your customer would like to process their own title and registration in another state, they can absolutely do so and will just need to complete the Division of Motorist Services Form HSMV 84061.
Please note, it is your responsibility to always remit all sales tax collected from out-of-state customers to the Florida Department of Revenue and not the customer’s state!