Highlands County, FL Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Highlands County Code § 8-220
- Tax rate
- 5% of rental consideration
- Applies to rentals of
- Six months or less
- Collected by
- Florida Department of Revenue, not the county
- 2% increment approved by
- Voter referendum, November 5, 2002
- Covers
- Hotels, motels, RV parks, condos, mobile home parks
Summary
Highlands County levies a five percent tourist development tax on rentals of six months or less at hotels, motels, apartments, mobile home parks, RV parks and condominiums throughout the county, incorporated and unincorporated alike. Section 8-220 breaks the rate into four separately authorized components, and the Florida Department of Revenue collects and remits the tax under Section 8-221.
Pursuant to the authority of Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, Highlands County does levy and impose throughout the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Highlands County, Florida, a tourist development tax at a rate of five percent of each dollar and major fraction of each dollar of the total consideration charged every person who rents, leases or lets for consideration any living quarters or accommodations in any hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment, apartment motel, rooming house, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, or condominium which renting, leasing, or letting is for a term of six months or less, unless exempted according to the provisions of Chapter 212, Florida Statutes.
Full Breakdown
0104, Section 8-220(a) imposes a tourist development tax of five percent of the total consideration charged for renting, leasing or letting living quarters or accommodations, including a hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment, apartment motel, rooming house, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park or condominium, for a term of six months or less, unless the rental is exempted under Chapter 212, Florida Statutes. 0104(3)(l) and (3)(m) for tourism promotion and advertisement. The person receiving the rental payment, not the guest, is responsible for charging the tax and collecting it from the lessee, tenant or customer at the time of payment; Section 8-220(c) makes this explicit.
Section 8-221 places administration with the Florida Department of Revenue rather than the county: operators must account for and remit the tax to the state in the same manner as sales tax collected under Chapter 212, keep records for three years, and make those records available to the Department for inspection. Collected funds, less any state collection fee, are returned monthly to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for deposit into the Highlands County Tourist Development Trust Fund, and Section 8-223 records that a two percent increment of the tax was approved by county voters in a November 5, 2002 referendum.
Violations & Fines
Section 8-221(e) gives the Florida Department of Revenue, not the county, enforcement authority. An operator who refuses to allow the Department to examine required books and records, fails to register as a dealer, fails to file a return and pay the tax, or files a grossly incorrect or fraudulent report is subject to a Department-issued estimated assessment plus interest and penalty, collectible the same way as the tax itself, and the Department may seek a mandatory injunction in circuit court to enforce its right of inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the tourist development tax apply to short-term rentals like Airbnb in Highlands County?
Who actually pays and remits the tourist development tax?
How is the 5 percent tax broken down?
What happens if an operator does not remit the tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Highlands County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Highlands County to another location·View the Florida hotels & lodging overview
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