DIRECT ANSWER
What to know first
An out-of-state retailer with no Florida physical presence generally must register and collect Florida sales and use tax when its taxable remote Florida sales were in excess of $100,000 in the previous calendar year. A marketplace provider can be responsible for tax on marketplace sales, but that does not automatically cover a seller's direct website, wholesale, in-person, or other off-marketplace sales. Florida activity can also create a registration obligation without waiting for the economic-nexus threshold.
Separate physical presence, direct remote sales, and marketplace sales
Build three separate sales lanes before applying a threshold: sales made from or through Florida activity, taxable remote sales accepted outside Florida and delivered into Florida, and sales facilitated by each marketplace. Registration can follow from Florida business activity even when remote sales are below the economic-nexus threshold.
The Department defines a remote sale for this rule as a retail sale of tangible personal property ordered through the internet, mail, telephone, or another communication method when the business receives the order outside Florida and ships or causes the item to be shipped to a Florida location.
Apply the previous-calendar-year threshold to the correct sales
Florida's current Department guidance uses taxable remote Florida sales in excess of $100,000 over the previous calendar year for an out-of-state retailer with no Florida physical presence. The wording is not a nationwide gross-revenue test and should not be replaced with a general marketplace total.
Retain order dates, delivery addresses, taxable or exempt classifications, gross sales, returns, marketplace identifiers, and evidence of any Florida location, inventory, employee, contractor, event, or other activity. Those facts determine which sales belong in the threshold analysis and whether a separate physical-presence issue exists.
Document what the marketplace provider collects
A marketplace provider that is required to register must certify to marketplace sellers that it will collect and remit tax on applicable Florida marketplace sales. When that certification applies, the seller may not collect the same tax and must exclude those marketplace sales from its Florida return, if it files one.
Keep the marketplace agreement or certification, state collection reports, Florida sales detail, refunds, fees, and reconciliations. A platform's remittance does not determine how the seller reports income, and it does not resolve tax on sales outside that platform.
Review direct sales and county surtax before registering
A marketplace seller with Florida physical presence, or taxable remote Florida sales outside the marketplace in excess of $100,000 in the previous calendar year, may have its own registration and collection duty. Direct website and invoiced sales therefore need a separate analysis.
Florida's discretionary sales surtax can depend on the county where tangible personal property is delivered. Before filing, reconcile destination addresses, current rate data, exempt sales, marketplace-collected tax, and direct-sales tax so the same transaction is neither omitted nor reported twice.
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Related tools and service paths
Sales tax exposure check
Map physical activity, marketplaces, direct sales, registrations, filing status, and notices without entering customer data.
CPA services for e-commerce sellers
Review sales-tax and income-tax work as separate, coordinated scopes.
AUTHOR
Stefano Tavella, CPA
Stefano Tavella, CPA leads Tavella CPA Group, a cloud-based CPA firm serving individuals and small businesses with tax preparation, planning, notice assistance, and related services.
PRIMARY GUIDANCE