Need Florida folks to weigh in so I can understand. The last message board on this topic was from 10 years ago…so, hopefully we’ve got a bit more clarity by now.
Do we need a business license (or business tax receipt) for EVERY city/county we want to perform an inspection in? DBPR states our license is good statewide, but they don’t have any jurisdiction over what local governments require. So, do we seriously need to call every county tax collector and every city hall or municipality in our “service area” to get a BTR to be legal? Seems ridiculous…I must be missing something. What if we want to travel and provide service outside of our normal area? Just can’t do it even though our license is good throughout the state?? Also, what are the tax implications from having all those BTRs?
While I can appreciate everyone’s “opinion” or “what I’ve done for XX years” answer, I’m really looking for some bona fide black and white that answers this question. If there is none, then we’re all going to just be speaking in circles with each other. Maybe we all need to bring this up to DBPR so they can push out something that applies statewide?? Let me know if you’ve got something on this. Thanks
Hi, @jdelvalle2 I highly recommend reaching out to the leaders of a few InterNACHI Florida Chapters for Florida-specific information to help answer your good questions.
You need to pay a business tax in the county and city where your business is located. Other counties and cities are prohibited from requiring you to pay a tax to do inspections in their area. I forget where it is specified but you can look it up.
When I started, I called all the counties I did inspections in and they told me it was required. When I found out they were not allowed to do that, I sent them emails showing the law that prohibited it and they apologized. Unfortunately I was not able to get them to pay me back but I never had to pay them again.
