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Florida sales tax

mac

Well-known member
The more that I look into this, the more confused I get. I am referring to the sales tax on equipment and repairs, not the freaking wax tax. My company got a written opinion from the FL Dept of revenue regarding this. The opinion was asked for in reference to rollover machines, and states that the machines are not considered "real" property, and thus subject to the tax. But what of tunnel and self serve equipment? We have always charged sales tax on the complete repairs of this. Anyone out there know more about this?
 
“ 3.1.3 Real Property. Section 192.001(12), Florida Statutes, defines real property
as: “land, buildings, fixtures, and all other improvements to land.” See section 5.1.”

“ 5.1 Identification of Real Property. The first step in the appraisal process is to identify the real property that is to be appraised. Only real property, as defined in section 3.1.3, should be included in just valuations of real property. Any personal property, as defined in section 3.1.4, should be excluded from just valuations of real property. See section 2.1.2. There are different purposes for identifying real property for ad valorem taxation in the State of Florida, including regulatory, administrative, and mass appraisal purposes. Some identifiers may be required for more than one purpose in the annual assessment roll production cycle.”

My experience with the State on this matter is years old but I was given the impression that a conveyor qualifies because it is part of the foundation, embedded in concrete. Similarly, reclaim tanks qualify as real property because they are buried in the ground.

I get the impression that in-bay is viewed by the State like a vending machine or inventory which is personal property. I don’t know for sure but suspect that self-service equipment would also be considered personal property.
 
Mac you should count your lucky stars you don’t do business in the state of Washington. We pay sales tax on everything, my county the tax rate is 9.7%, every city/county has a different tax rate. Once the equipment is sold then we pay “Personal Property Tax” on the equipment until it’s depreciated to zero. Everything we buy from out of state is taxed with “Use Tax” so whatever you buy from the discount catalog store is taxed at the rate for your area. A follow car wash operator I know for years was buying all of his equipment, chemicals, spare parts etc. out of state so he wouldn’t have to sales tax. When he was audited by the state he ended up writing a check for almost $30K for back taxes and penalties.

All car wash revenue is also taxed. That includes automatic car washes, bay time, vacuum time and vending items. So basically every Dollar that comes into the car wash the state is going to get 9.7 cents.

The last time I got audited I got nailed for not paying the ”Use Tax” on the value of the “Free” trade magazine subscription that everyone gets when they go to the conventions. I don’t get them anymore
 
Florida sales tax is complicated. Sales tax is charged on the entire bill for labor and material (vendor gets reimbursed if they paid sales tax), even if they work on your building. Sales tax is not charged for labor only.

Sales tax is charged if anything is left on a car (wax, tire shine), but not charged for a "plain car wash". BUT you have to pay sales tax for the soap used.
 
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