Business tax receipt

Florida Statutes 205.022(5) starts with the tax, not the receipt. It defines the local business tax as "the fees charged and the method by which a local governing authority grants the privilege of engaging in or managing any business, profession, or occupation within its jurisdiction."

Two more definitions in the same section finish the picture. Under 205.022(6), the local governing authority is the governing body of any county or incorporated municipality in Florida, so a county and a city can each be the authority behind a receipt. Under 205.022(8), the receipt is the document that authority issues bearing the words Local Business Tax Receipt, and it "evidences that the person in whose name the document is issued has complied with the provisions of this chapter relating to the business tax."

Subsection (5) also draws a boundary around the tax. It says the local business tax "does not mean any fees or licenses paid to any board, commission, or officer for permits, registration, examination, or inspection," and that, "Unless otherwise provided by law," those regulatory charges come in addition to the tax and not in place of it. Contractor licensing is set in a different chapter, Chapter 489 of the Florida Statutes; permits are a separate subject, taken up under whether exterior cleaning needs a permit, and so are the local codes on what may enter a stormwater system or a swale. What a receipt does and does not tell a homeowner about a company is argued in what a business tax receipt shows about an exterior cleaner.

Whether Florida licenses roof cleaning is a separate subject again, covered in the roof cleaning page's licensing rules.

The authority to charge the tax comes in two parallel sections. Under 205.032 the governing body of a county, and under 205.042 the governing body of an incorporated municipality, may each levy a business tax "by appropriate resolution or ordinance" for the privilege of doing business within its jurisdiction.

Neither may do it quietly. Each section requires at least 14 days' public notice between the first and last reading of the resolution or ordinance, published in a newspaper of general circulation, and the notice must carry the proposed classifications and rates. The rates are set locally. The Collier County Tax Collector's page prints no schedule, and its line on the subject is "Business tax receipt fees vary with the kind of business."

The Collier County Tax Collector's page says a county business tax receipt is required wherever in the county a business operates, including within the city limits of Naples and Marco Island, and on the same page it names a few exceptions, for certain charitable groups, veterans, invalids and senior citizens over 65. It describes the receipt as one for the privilege of engaging in a business activity either for profit or non-profit.

The Tax Collector's business tax FAQ then describes the order of steps in two of the cities. For a business in the City of Naples its answer is "Both a City and County license," with the city's purchased first and a copy of it required before the county issues its own. For a business in the City of Marco Island, the first step it lists is a zoning certificate from the city. The FAQ gives the receipt a one-year life with a renewal period from July 1 to September 30.