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Florida's Insurance Premium Taxes and Fees
Who Must File?
Every authorized domestic, foreign, and alien insurer engaged in the business of entering into contracts of insurance or annuity in Florida must file an insurance premium tax return.
What Is Taxable?
Tax is due on:
- Insurance premiums.
- Premiums for title insurance.
- Assessments, including membership fees, policy fees, and gross deposits received from subscribers to reciprocal or interinsurance agreements.
- Annuity premiums or considerations.
- Gross underwriting profit on wet marine and transportation insurance.
Additionally:
- Insurers must pay a regulatory assessment on fire insurance policies issued and insuring property in Florida.
- Insurers selling property insurance in Florida must pay an excise tax levied by participating Florida municipalities and fire districts for a firefighters' pension trust fund.
- Insurers selling casualty insurance in Florida must pay an excise tax levied by participating Florida municipalities for a police officers' retirement trust fund.
The premium/underwriting profit taxes, excise taxes, and regulatory assessment must be reported on Form DR-908, Insurance Premium Taxes and Fees Return.
Reporting and Paying Taxes
Taxpayers must file Form DR-908 yearly by March 1 and pay quarterly installments (Form DR-907). Installments are due on April 15, June 15, and October 15 of each year. Final payment of tax due for the year must be made at the time the taxpayer files the return (DR-908) for the year.
You can file and pay insurance premium tax using Revenue’s secure Internet site. If you paid $20,000 or more in insurance premium taxes and fees during the most recent state fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), you must pay electronically during the next calendar year. Taxpayers who pay tax electronically can download a due date calendar.
Starting January 1, 2011, if you paid $20,000 or more in insurance premium taxes and fees during the previous state fiscal year, you will be required to file and pay electronically.
In January 2011, our online electronic filing will include the ability to upload data files for Schedules XII and XIII, Firefighters' and Police Officers' Retirement Trust Funds. Insurers required to file electronically will be granted a waiver from electronic filing if requested. To request a waiver give us a call at 800-352-3671. Insurers are encouraged to file electronically and take advantage of the opportunity to save resources. The online Florida filing application offers, in addition to the uploading of some data, automatic calculations and automatic entry for data appearing in more than one schedule.
Electronic Address/Jurisdiction Database
The Department of Revenue (DOR) maintains an electronic address/jurisdiction database. Participating municipalities and fire districts update jurisdictional information. Street addresses are linked to the jurisdiction. Insurers use the database to assign policies and premiums to local taxing jurisdictions. Insurers continue to report local Insurance Premium Taxes to DOR on Form DR-908, Insurance Premium Taxes and Fees Return, Schedules XII and XIII.
The electronic address/jurisdiction database is available for download or for looking up a single address at https://geotax.state.fl.us
If you have questions about the electronic address/jurisdiction database, contact:
DOR Local Government Unit
PO Box 6530
Tallahassee FL 32314-6530
Telephone: 800-352-3671
E-mail: local-govt-unit@dor.state.fl.us
Participating municipalities and fire districts can check the current list of contacts who work with DOR and submit updates to the addresses in their jurisdiction. Notify the DOR Local Government Unit if you need to update the contact list. If you are in a participating jurisdiction and no contact is listed, please provide the contact information to the DOR Local Government Unit.
Distribution of Funds
The Florida Department of Management Services, Division of Retirement, Municipal Police Officers' and Firefighters' Retirement Trust Funds Office manages the retirement trust funds and distributes funds to the local taxing jurisdictions.
Tax Credits for Scholarship Contributions
An insurance company that contributes to nonprofit scholarship funding organizations (SFOs) may receive tax credits. You can apply online.
Reference Material
The Department issues Tax Information Publications (TIPs) that explain changes to insurance premium tax, including information related to the electronic address database.
Some of the laws relating to insurance premium tax are:
- Section 624.509, Florida Statutes, Premium tax; rate and computation.
- Section 624.510, F.S., Tax on wet marine and transportation insurance.
- Section 252.372 F. S., Emergency Management, imposition and collection of surcharge.
- Section 175.101, F.S., Municipal Firefighters' Pension Trust Funds.
- Section 185.08, F.S. Municipal Police Officers' Retirement Trust Funds.
- Sections 175.1015 and 185.085, F.S., Determination of local premium tax situs.
Tax laws, including those listed above and others related to insurance premium taxes and fees, are available in the Department's Revenue Law Library.