Florida sales tax help
Configure the vessel sales-tax cap and the differing taxability of marina revenue in QuickBooks.
Sales tax helpFlorida · Marine & Boating Accounting
Florida marine accounting that knows the vessel sales-tax cap cold.
Florida’s marine taxes run on their own rules — a cap on the tax for each boat sale and each boat repair, decal and removal deadlines for nonresident buyers, and slip, fuel, storage, and repair revenue that each need their own tax coding. Boat-dealer inventory, marina revenue, and yacht-brokerage records stay straight — prepared by a senior bookkeeper who works in your software, or by a signed specialist practice when your books need one. Nobody on the engagement holds brokerage or escrow funds, and your CPA files.
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
State rule
Florida rule: the tax on each sale or use of a boat in Florida may not exceed $18,000, and on each boat repair $60,000; dealer invoices and the sales-tax liability post the capped amount, not a percentage of the full price. Source: § 212.05(5), Fla. Stat.
§ The short version
Florida marine accounting from TechBrot keeps boat-dealer inventory, marina slip, fuel, storage and repair revenue, and yacht-brokerage trust records straight in your own QuickBooks file. Dealer invoices post Florida’s capped tax, at most $18,000 on each boat sale and $60,000 on each repair; nobody on the engagement holds brokerage or escrow funds.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification,
§ 01 · Why Florida marine books break
Three places Florida marine businesses lose the numbers.
The vessel tax cap, mixed revenue, and brokerage funds are where it goes wrong. Knowing which one you’re in tells us where to start.
01Tax cap
The vessel sales-tax cap mishandled
Florida caps the tax at $18,000 on a single boat sale and $60,000 on a single repair — invoice it like ordinary retail and you over-collect; ignore the decal and removal rules on exempt nonresident sales and you under-collect. Either way the books and the return don’t tie.02Mixed revenue
Slip, fuel, storage & repair blended
A marina’s revenue streams are not all taxed the same way. Blended into one income account, sales tax is applied wrong and margin by service is invisible.03Escrow
Brokerage funds and trust records
Yacht brokers move large client deposits through a trust account under Chapter 326, which requires a separate record of every amount received and its disposition — sloppy trust records are a compliance risk, even though the funds stay in the brokerage’s hands, not ours.§ 02 · What TechBrot handles
How we keep a Florida marine business’s books.
Every engagement is scoped to your dealership, marina, or brokerage, delivered in your own QuickBooks file by your TechBrot team, with every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
01
Vessel sales-tax cap configured
The books set up so each boat sale records the tax capped at $18,000, and each repair at $60,000, with decal and removal paperwork kept on exempt nonresident sales — your CPA confirms how the rules apply.
Sales tax help02
Dealer inventory & floor plan
New and brokered-boat inventory and floor-plan financing tracked so unit margin and carrying cost are visible.
QuickBooks accountant03
Marina revenue separated
Slip rental, fuel, dry storage, parts, and repair labor separated so each is taxed correctly and margin shows per stream.
Bookkeeping services04
Brokerage trust records
The separate record of every amount received and disbursed that Chapter 326 requires, kept accurate and reconciled to the trust account — records only, never the funds.
Monthly bookkeeping05
Use tax & equipment
Use-tax positions on vessels and the tangible personal property schedule on dealer and marina equipment kept ready for your CPA.
Corporate & TPP tax06
CPA-ready statements
Margin by department and unit, CPA-ready and decision-ready for pricing and inventory.
Financial statements§ 03 · Tools we work alongside
Connected to how you run the waterfront.
- Dealer management systems (DMS) for boat dealers
- QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop — your file
- Marina-management and slip-billing platforms
- Fuel-dock and POS systems
- Gusto, ADP, and payroll providers
- Bill.com for vendor and parts AP
We reconcile alongside the dealer-management and marina systems you already run — the books read from how you run the waterfront. We never take custody of brokerage or escrow funds.
§ 04 · How engagements work
From mixed revenue to clean margin.
Every Florida marine engagement follows the same rhythm — books accurate first, margin visibility second, advisory third.
- Step 1
Free revenue & tax review
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews your inventory, marina revenue, brokerage records, and sales/use-tax handling — at no cost. - Step 2
Written fixed-fee scope
A written scope and fixed fee within 3 business days — setup, cleanup, or monthly. - Step 3
Configure & separate
The vessel tax cap configured, marina revenue separated, inventory and brokerage records cleaned. - Step 4
Monthly margin close
A monthly close showing unit and departmental margin, CPA-ready.
§ 05 · Beyond the books
Clean margin is the start. Inventory and pricing are the point.
When the tax cap is right, inventory ties, and the revenue streams are separated, the decisions get real: which boat lines and services make money, how much floor-plan carry you can afford, whether to add storage or repair capacity — answered from numbers that hold.
That’s where fractional-CFO advisory picks up, on cleaned-up books, in coordination with your CPA.
Checked against § 212.05, Florida Statutes and the Florida Department of Revenue.
§ 07 · Around this page
Around Florida.
Florida QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the Florida tax terms in one place.Also in Florida
Other Florida industries
Florida cities
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Florida compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
§ 08 · FAQ
Florida marine accounting questions.
What does Florida marine accounting include?
Boat-dealer inventory and floor-plan tracking with the vessel sales-tax cap configured, marina revenue (slip rental, fuel, dry storage, parts, repair labor) separated for correct tax, yacht-brokerage trust/escrow record-keeping, use-tax positions on vessels, and the tangible personal property schedule on equipment — in your own QuickBooks file. We keep the books and records; we never hold brokerage funds; your CPA confirms taxability and files.
How does the Florida boat sales-tax cap work?
Under § 212.05(5), Florida Statutes, the maximum tax imposed and collected on each sale or use of a boat in Florida may not exceed $18,000, and on each repair of a boat may not exceed $60,000 — above that, the tax stops climbing rather than applying to the full price. That changes how dealers invoice and how each sale is recorded. A nonresident buyer of a boat of 5 net tons or larger who will not remove it within 10 days can get a 90-day decal from the selling dealer, with removal required within 180 days at most, so the dealer’s deal file keeps the decal and removal records behind every sale booked as exempt. We configure the books to apply the cap correctly; we don’t make the taxability determination ourselves.
How do you handle a marina's mixed revenue?
A marina mixes streams that are not all taxed the same way — slip and dry-storage rental, fuel, parts, and repair labor. Docking and storage space for boats in boat docks or marinas is taxed at 6% of the total rental under § 212.03(6), and the Department of Revenue confirmed it stayed taxable when the commercial-rent tax was repealed on October 1, 2025 (TIP 25A01-04). We separate the streams in the books so the right tax is applied to each and so you can see margin by department, instead of a blended number that hides which part of the operation makes money.
Do you hold or disburse yacht-brokerage escrow funds?
No — this is a firm boundary. Under § 326.005, a yacht broker places funds received in a transaction into a trust account and keeps a separate record of all such money received and its disposition. Those records are kept accurate and reconciled so they support the brokerage’s compliance obligations, but nobody on the engagement takes custody of, holds, or disburses client funds. Those large deposits stay in the brokerage’s escrow account, under its control and its bank. We keep the books behind them clean; the custody is the brokerage’s.
What about use tax on boats brought into Florida?
Boats purchased elsewhere and brought into Florida can raise use-tax and decal/registration questions with their own timing rules, and the same § 212.05(5) cap of $18,000 applies to each sale or use of a boat in Florida. We keep the records and the use-tax position clean for your CPA, who determines what’s owed and files. We track it; we don’t make the determination or file the return.
Do you work in my own QuickBooks file?
Yes — your file, your data, in QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop, with a senior bookkeeper assigned to your file, and every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before it reaches you, connected to your dealer-management or marina systems rather than proprietary software.
Florida marine businesses start here