Alachua County One Quarter Percent Discretionary Sales Surtax Begins January 1, 2005

Michael V. McKee, University Controller

Effective January 1, 2005, the University is required to begin collecting the Alachua County one quarter percent discretionary sales surtax or the Indigent Healthcare Surtax (CHOICES). This surtax applies to the sale or use of taxable merchandise or taxable services delivered into Alachua County and are applied in addition to the State’s six percent sales tax. The new combined sales tax rate for the county will be 6.25 percent. The surtax is planned to expire on December 31, 2011.

University units with taxable sales or services are expected to collect, deposit, and report the surtax in addition to and in a similar manner as state sales tax. Monthly sales tax reports are due to University Tax Services no later than the tenth of the month following the monthly collection period. Please let this area know if no sales were made for a month. University Tax Services reconciles taxable sales reported by university units with actual tax deposits and reports and transfers the tax to the Florida Department of Revenue. A chart of sales tax brackets for taxable sales is available at: http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/dor/taxes/dr2x.html

Only the first $5,000 of a single sale of tangible personal property is subject to the one quarter percent discretionary sales surtax. The entire amount of rentals of real property or services is subject to discretionary sales surtax. Also keep in mind that if you sell or deliver taxable merchandise or services to a location in a different county imposing a discretionary sales surtax, you must collect the surtax at the rate imposed in the county where the merchandise or service is delivered. Information on discretionary sales surtax by county is available at: http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/dor/forms/2005/dr15dss.pdf

Please contact Xin Zhang xzhang@ufl.edu or Eric Davidson davidsoe@ufl.edu if you have any questions concerning this matter.