Florida filings
What a Florida corporation files beyond the IRS, and how to catch it up.
Florida doesn’t tax personal income, but a Florida corporation still has state filings: corporate income tax for C corporations, sales tax, reemployment tax and the Sunbiz annual report. Cayde Accounting & Tax catches these up alongside the federal returns, working virtually with corporations across Florida.
Florida corporate income tax
Does a Florida corporation file a state income tax return?
A C corporation must file Florida Form F-1120 every year, even when no tax is due, and pays 5.5% on Florida net income above a $50,000 exemption (the rate for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022; 2019 to 2021 used lower rates).
An S corporation files F-1120 only in a year it owes federal income tax at the corporate level, for example on built-in gains or excess passive income. An LLC taxed as a C or S corporation follows the same rule as that type of corporation.
No personal income tax can sound like no state return, but for a C corporation a loss year, or a year under the exemption, still needs an F-1120.
A late F-1120 can cost 10% of any unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 50%; with no tax due, $50 a month, up to $300.
What a late federal Form 1120 costs
Full guide: a late Florida F-1120, what it costs and how to catch up
How it’s caught up
Year by year, with the federal return
Each missing year’s F-1120 is done alongside that year’s federal Form 1120, from the same rebuilt books, so the federal and Florida figures agree.
For an S corporation, your proposal lists any year that needs an F-1120.
Florida sales and use tax
What happens when Florida sales tax returns are missed?
Each late sales tax return can carry a penalty of 10% of the tax, at least $50 even when no tax is due, plus interest on unpaid tax.
A registered dealer files a return (Form DR-15) for every period, even with no sales, on the filing schedule Florida assigned to the account. That’s why a string of quiet months still adds up.
Worked example
12 empty months filed late: up to $600 (12 × $50), with no tax owed. Florida settles the penalty on a first late return automatically; after that, the minimum usually applies to each one.
County discretionary sales surtax varies by county and is reported on the same return.
How missed periods are caught up
- Every missed period is reconstructed from your sales records and bank deposits.
- Taxable and exempt sales are separated, and the county surtax is applied where the sales were delivered.
- The books for the same months are rebuilt at the same time, so the returns match the books.
- The returns are filed in order, so no period is left unfiled.
Tax you collected but didn’t send in is treated more seriously than tax that was never collected. Raise it on your call; in some cases you may also want a Florida tax attorney.
Florida reemployment tax
What about reemployment tax (RT-6)?
Employers file an RT-6 report every quarter; missed quarters are filed in order from payroll records.
Reemployment tax is Florida’s name for state unemployment tax. The RT-6 lists the wages paid to each employee in the quarter, so it can only be as accurate as the payroll records behind it.
How missed quarters are caught up
From the same payroll records as the federal forms
Each missed quarter is rebuilt from payroll reports and the bank statements that show wages paid. The same figures feed the federal Form 941 for that quarter, the Form 940 and the W-2s, so every payroll filing tells the same story.
Missing payroll reports? Say so on the call. Bank statements are enough to start, and you’ll get an honest view of what can be rebuilt.
Sunbiz annual report
What if the Sunbiz annual report was missed?
Florida charges corporations and LLCs a $400 late fee after May 1. A company that still hasn’t filed by the third Friday of September is administratively dissolved (an out-of-state company has its authority revoked).
The annual report is due between January 1 and May 1 every year, and it’s filed with the Florida Division of Corporations on Sunbiz.
Reinstatement means filing the missed annual reports and paying the reinstatement and annual report fees on Sunbiz, or on the Division of Corporations’ paper form. You can file it yourself.
What reinstatement doesn’t fix
The tax returns behind it
Reinstatement deals with the company’s status on Sunbiz. It doesn’t file the federal and Florida tax returns that often stopped around the same time.
A catch-up gets the books and those returns current. Help with the annual report, and the missed annual reports a reinstatement needs, can be added to the same written quote, so the IRS, the Florida Department of Revenue and Sunbiz are dealt with together. The state fees are paid by your company to Florida, not to Cayde.
Does it matter where in Florida the business is?
Not for working with Cayde: the work is virtual and statewide. Where it matters is sales tax.
The county surtax rate on the DR-15 depends on where sales are delivered, so a business that delivers into more than one county can report more than one surtax rate on the same return.
Local business tax receipts come from counties and cities. They’re separate from the state filings on this page.
Everything is done remotely: a catch-up runs on records, not office visits, and it’s billed in U.S. dollars.
What does a Florida catch-up cover?
For each outstanding year, the rebuilt books and the company’s business income tax return. State filings that are behind as well are added to the same written quote, so it’s one coordinated engagement.
In the catch-up, for each year
- Books rebuilt for the 12-month year in QuickBooks Online or Xero, with the accounts in your proposal reconciled
- A year-end profit and loss statement and balance sheet
- The federal Form 1120 or 1120-S for that year
- Florida F-1120, where the company has to file one and it’s in the agreed scope: every year for a C corporation, but for an S corporation only in a year it owes corporate-level federal tax
Added to the same written quote, if they’re behind too
- Sales tax (DR-15) for the missed periods, with the county surtax where sales were delivered
- Reemployment tax (RT-6) for the missed quarters, with the federal Forms 941 and 940 and the W-2s
- Help with the Sunbiz annual report, and the missed annual reports a reinstatement needs
If payroll, sales tax or other filings are also behind, we’ll include the agreed work in your written quote.
Anything with a deadline goes first, including a Florida Department of Revenue letter. Then the books and returns are done oldest year first, because each year’s closing balances feed the next.
Your federal and Florida business returns are reviewed, signed and filed by independent U.S. tax professionals after you approve them: e-filed wherever the IRS accepts it, and on paper for older years. Their name and IRS preparer tax ID (PTIN) appear on every return they sign.
Catch-up projects start at US$2,500 per year, with a fixed quote in writing before you pay anything. Each outstanding year is priced on its own revenue and activity, and your free call and written quote confirm each year individually. Taxes, penalties, interest and government fees (such as Sunbiz fees) are separate: your company pays them directly. All prices in U.S. dollars. See the per-year starting guide.
What else do owners ask about Florida filings?
Anything else? Email info@caydetax.com, or ask on your free call.
Is everything done remotely?
Yes. Everything happens by phone, video and secure file sharing, so it doesn’t matter where in Florida the company is. Cayde works virtually with corporations across Florida, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern.
What does a late Florida corporate return cost?
A late Form F-1120 can cost 10% of any unpaid tax for each month or part of a month it’s late, up to 50% of that tax. With no tax due, the penalty is $50 a month, up to $300. A C corporation files every year, even with no tax due, so a loss year filed late still carries a penalty.
Our company was administratively dissolved. Can it be fixed?
Yes. Reinstatement is filed on Sunbiz: the missed annual reports, plus the reinstatement and annual report fees. You can file it yourself, or help with it can be added to your catch-up quote, alongside the books and tax returns behind it. It can be filed online on Sunbiz or on the Division’s paper form, and the state fees are paid to Florida, not to Cayde.
Does an S corporation file Florida corporate income tax?
Generally not. An S corporation files Form F-1120 only in a year it owes federal income tax at the corporate level, for example on built-in gains or excess passive income. It still has its federal Form 1120-S, and any sales tax, reemployment tax and annual report filings that apply to it.
We collected sales tax but didn’t send it in. What now?
Every missed period is reconstructed and filed in order. Each late return can carry a one-time penalty of 10% of the tax, at least $50, and interest keeps building until the tax is paid, so the sooner it’s dealt with, the better. Tax you collected but didn’t send in is treated more seriously than tax that was never collected. Raise it on your call; in some cases you may also want a Florida tax attorney.
Is there a penalty for a return with no sales?
Yes, if it’s late. A registered dealer files for every period, even with no sales, and a late return can carry a penalty of at least $50 even when no tax is due. Twelve missed months with no sales: up to $600.
What should you read next?
- Florida catch-up bookkeeping and back taxesHow Cayde gets a Florida corporation caught up on its books and returns, then keeps it current.→
- Late 1120-S penaltiesWhat a late S corporation return costs, per shareholder and per month, even with no tax owed.→
Sources for the Florida figures on this page: Florida Department of Revenue, sales and use tax; Florida Department of Revenue, corporate income tax; Sunbiz, annual report. General information, not advice for your situation. Updated October 31, 2026.
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