This guide is general information, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Rules and fees change; confirm your situation with a Florida CPA, attorney and commercial insurance broker.

The checklist

  1. Form a Florida LLC.
  2. Get an EIN and a business bank account.
  3. Register with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect sales tax.
  4. Charge sales tax, county surtax and the rental car surcharge on every rental.
  5. Insure the fleet for commercial rental use.
  6. Put rental agreements, deposits and online payments in place.
  7. Launch a booking channel you own.

1. Form a Florida LLC

Most independent operators use a limited liability company. You file Articles of Organization with the Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz). The filing fee is $125. Every year the LLC files an annual report between January 1 and May 1; the fee is $138.75, and missing the May 1 deadline adds a $400 late fee.

Decide early who owns the cars. If vehicles are titled to you personally, a written lease between you and the LLC keeps the paper trail clear for taxes, lenders and insurers. Ask your CPA which setup fits.

2. Get an EIN and separate your money

Request an Employer Identification Number from the IRS (it's free), open a business bank account, and route every rental payment and expense through it. Clean books make sales tax filing and your annual return much easier.

3. Register to collect sales tax

Vehicle rentals are taxable in Florida. Register with the Florida Department of Revenue using the Florida Business Tax Application (Form DR-1), online or on paper. After registration you file sales tax returns on the schedule the Department assigns.

4. Charge the right taxes and the surcharge

ChargeRateNotes
State sales tax6%On the rental charge
County discretionary surtax0%–2.5%, set by countyMiami-Dade and Broward: 1% (7% combined)
Rental car surcharge$2 per day or part of a dayFirst 30 days of each rental; vehicles for fewer than 9 passengers; the surcharge itself is subject to sales tax
Peer-to-peer car-sharing surcharge$1 per dayApplies to Turo-style trips; the platform collects it, not you

The rental car surcharge is reported by county: it is attributed to the county where the rental agreement is made, which is where the customer picks up the car. Check the Department of Revenue's current surtax schedule (Form DR-15DSS) before you set your checkout taxes.

5. Insure the fleet for rental use

Personal auto policies generally don't cover renting your car to the public. You need a commercial rental policy, usually through a broker who specializes in rental fleets.

Florida caps a rental company's liability as the owner of a car rented for less than a year at $100,000 per person and $300,000 per incident for bodily injury, and $50,000 for property damage. If the renter is uninsured, or carries less than $500,000 in combined coverage, the owner can be liable for up to an additional $500,000 in economic damages (s. 324.021(9)(b)2, Florida Statutes). At the federal level, the Graves Amendment generally shields rental owners from liability for a renter's driving when the owner wasn't negligent. Your broker can size coverage around both.

6. Agreements, deposits and payments

  • Use a written rental agreement for every booking: driver details, mileage, fuel, tolls, damage and late returns.
  • Take a security deposit or card authorization, and photograph the car at pickup and return.
  • Collect payment online before the trip, through a processor that pays into your own account.
  • Plan for tolls: most Florida highways are cashless, so decide how you pass toll charges to renters.
  • If you offer airport delivery to MIA or FLL, check each airport's rules for commercial pickups first.

7. Take bookings on a channel you own

Many Florida operators start on Turo. It brings demand, but every trip is priced, paid and governed on Turo's terms. A booking site of your own lets repeat and local customers reserve with you directly. éPure Drive gives you that site on day one: live availability, online payments through Stripe or Square, digital agreements, and Turo calendar sync that blocks dates already booked on Turo. Read how to move from Turo to direct bookings, or see pricing (Starter is free forever).

Sources