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Florida Sales Tax

f14av8r

Well Known Member
I bought an airplane from a guy in Georgia. I sent in my FAA registration. Will the state / county where I live in Florida send me a bill at some point for sales tax?
 
They sent me one shortly after I registered my kit. I think they check the registrations frequently, so would expect a bill.

Chris
 
I bought an airplane from a guy in Georgia. I sent in my FAA registration. Will the state / county where I live in Florida send me a bill at some point for sales tax?

You will get a letter stating that you have registered a plane in the state and requiring you to contact them to pay use tax.
 
I would call them

as if you wait for them to bill you, you may find a "penalty" attached for late payment. I do not have the phone number or the woman's name at hand or I would include it for you. Several months after my purchase, I was sent a bill with a late fee included. Fortunately, I had the carbon of the check I had written them at the time of purchase. They apparently never received it and I never paid attention to see if it cleared. I sent a photocopy of the carbon with another check for the original amount and they removed the penalty.
 
Paid the tax man

Thanks for the great advice everyone. Sure enough, I owed Florida 6% of the purchase price and Polk County 1% on the first 5K. Ouch! And, I had to have it in by the 20th to avoid paying a 10% penalty. The only strange thing was the form said they wanted a bill of sale other than the FAA form. That's the only bill of sale I have so they'll have to make do. I'm sure they'll let me know if that isn't sufficient but I'm betting they'll just be happy to have my money!
Thanks again everyone!
 
that's why all my aircraft are bought and sold in texas.
Technically, it doesn't matter where you buy or sell the airplane. If you bring it into Florida and operate it for more than 20 days in six months, you are required to pay. They may be less likely to run you down if you bought it in Texas but I don't see how that's different than me buying mine in Georgia.
 
Call the Department of Revenue

not true.

only if the aircraft is brought into florida withing the first six months of ownership.

http://dor.myflorida.com/Forms_library/current/gt800008.pdf

bob burns
N82RB

Hi Bob,
You're right, that's an important correction. The use tax is due immediately if you bring the aircraft into Florida for more than 20 days in the FIRST SIX MONTHS after purchase. My initial response to you was simply to say that you couldn't legally avoid the Florida Use Tax simply by buying the aircraft in another state and bringing it here.

The one interesting question that does arise is the possibility that you might avoid the Florida Use Tax by purchasing the aircraft out of state and keeping it out of state for more than six months after purchase.

I was curious and also wanted to make sure I handled my transaction properly so I called the Florida Department Of Revenue. They first gentlemen I spoke to sent me to one of their aircraft specialist, Ms. Rebecca Burdick. I asked Ms. Burdick if I could have avoided the Florida Use Tax by keeping the aircraft in Georgia for six months. Her answer - that depends. She said the Florida DOR would want to see proof that the aircraft was kept out of the state for the first six months after purchase and, even if it was brought in later, they would want to see evidence that the taxes had been properly paid to the taxation authority where the airplane was kept for those months. She also said that, I had filled out the registration with a Georgia address, the Georgia DOR would probably have come knocking.

I asked her about keeping the airplane in a state that doesn't have a use / sales tax for the first six months - Delaware for example - and she said that would be the one way to legally avoid ever having to pay the Florida Use Tax. But, the Florida DOR would require thorough documentation of that situation.

I'm certainly no tax attorney. I'm sure it's possible to EVADE the Florida Use Tax. I wasn't interested in playing that dangerous game but did want to determine if it is reasonably possible to AVOID the tax. Apparently it is, but you'd find it pretty hard to do that if you wanted to use your airplane in Florida, at least for the first six months after purchase.

For those that might be interested, the aviation specialist at the Florida Department of Revenue may be reached at (850) 617-8594. There are currently two ladies working aviation, Ms. Rebecca Burdick and Ms. Sheila Miller.
 
Earlier this year and prior to receiving a notice from FL DOR, I paid a use tax to them based on the kits I had bought so far. When I received the tax notice from them, it included a form to fill out for aircraft sale (which required things like engine S/N, hangar location, etc). I sent them proof of earlier payments, as well as a note explaining that I really didn't consider it an 'airplane' yet as it had no engine or avionics, was in my home and not a hangar, had no wings, etc, and therefore I was unable to adequately fill out the form.

That was several months ago and have not heard from them again, so hopefully all is well. I know your situation is different, but just a heads-up for other FL kit builders. It seems they may look kindly on paying the use tax pro-actively, and not hassle you much if you do.

Chris
 
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