CraftShow Events

Sales Tax for Craft Show Vendors in Florida

Last researched September 14, 2026 Sources: Florida Department of Revenue Medium confidence

Short answer

Generally yes. Florida requires anyone doing business as a dealer to register for each place of business and collect 6% state sales tax plus any county surtax. The Department of Revenue tells flea market vendors and other dealers with temporary locations to carry their Certificate of Registration at the site. Sales made at a shared commercial selling location do not qualify as exempt occasional sales [1][3][4].

Registration
Certificate of Registration (Form DR-11)
Cost
Not stated on official pages reviewed ($100 fee applies for failure to register)
State base rate
6% As of: GT-300015 rev. 11/2025; checked 2026-09-14. Local taxes may apply.
Event organizers have duties?
None found in official sources
Official registration
https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/registration

Who needs to register

  • Dealers. "A person desiring to engage in or conduct business in this state as a dealer" must apply for "a certificate of registration for each place of business" [2]. The administrative rule says the same [4].
  • Temporary-location vendors. DOR guidance: "Flea market vendors and other dealers with temporary locations must have their certificate in their possession at the temporary location" [1]. This assumes such vendors are registered.
  • The occasional sale exemption is narrow. An exempt occasional sale is a sale by the owner of property, no more than twice in 12 months, of items not bought for resale [3]. It is not an occasional sale if it is made "from a location, which is not its fixed and permanent business location, and which is in competition with other persons required to collect tax" [3]. The rule's example is a nonprofit selling T-shirts where other vendors must be registered: it "must also register as a dealer even if that is the organization's first sale during that 12-month period" [3]. Handmade inventory made for sale does not fit the owner-property exemption.
  • Out-of-state sellers at events: no DOR guidance specific to craft shows was found. For conventions and trade shows, an exhibitor whose written agreement allows retail sales "must register as a dealer and collect the tax on such sales" [2][4].
  • No dollar threshold for in-person event vendors was found.

The permit or registration

  • Name: Certificate of Registration (Form DR-11), issued after registering for sales and use tax. New registrants also receive a Florida Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax (Form DR-13) [1].
  • Where to apply: online at floridarevenue.com/taxes/registration (Florida Business Tax Application, https://taxapps.floridarevenue.com/taxregistration), or on paper Form DR-1 [1][5].
  • Cost: no application fee is stated on the pages reviewed. The statute imposes a $100 registration fee on "a person who engages in acts requiring a certificate of registration ... and who fails or refuses to register"; DOR may waive it for reasonable cause [2].
  • Processing: "Allow three business days for the processing of a new application before checking the status" [5].
  • Temporary or event-only registration: none found in the statute, rules or guides reviewed.
  • Security deposit: DOR may require one when a person "operates from a temporary location in Florida for less than six months in any consecutive twelve-month period, and there is evidence that the person will fail to remit taxes" [4].

Collecting and filing

  • State rate: "Florida's general state sales tax rate of 6% applies to most taxable transactions" (GT-300015, rev. 11/25) [1]. The DOR sales tax page says the same (checked 2026-09-14) [6].
  • County surtax: "you must collect discretionary sales surtax when a transaction occurs in, or delivery is into, a county that imposes surtax" [1]. County rates are listed on Form DR-15DSS, updated yearly [1][6].
  • Filing frequency: "Most new businesses are set up on a quarterly filing frequency unless another frequency is requested." Frequency depends on the amount of tax collected [1]. No frequency specific to temporary vendors was found.

Organizer / promoter obligations

  • No specific promoter obligation found in official sources.
  • Convention and trade show exhibitor registration is covered in the rules [4], but no duty was found for flea market or craft show operators to collect vendor information or tax.

Food and other special cases

  • Secondhand goods: people who regularly buy, consign or trade secondhand goods at flea markets need a Secondhand Dealer registration (DR-11S) as well as sales tax registration. This is outside typical handmade craft sales [7].
  • Nonprofits: a nonprofit selling items bought for resale at a location where other vendors collect tax must register [3].
  • Prepared food and cottage food: not researched in official DOR sources for this report.

Sources

  1. Florida DOR, "Business Owner's Guide for the Major Florida Taxes" GT-300015 (R. 11/25) — https://floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/guides/gt300015.pdf — flea market and temporary-location certificate rule, 6% rate, surtax by transaction or delivery county, registration method, quarterly filing for new businesses.
  2. Florida Statutes §212.18(3) (2026) — https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0212/Sections/0212.18.html — registration per place of business, $100 fee for failing to register, exhibitor registration.
  3. Florida Administrative Code Rule 12A-1.037, "Occasional or Isolated Sales" — https://flrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?id=12A-1.037 — occasional sale limits, competition-location exclusion, nonprofit example.
  4. Florida Administrative Code Rule 12A-1.060, "Registration" — https://flrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?id=12A-1.060 — registration per place of business, exhibitor rules, security for temporary locations.
  5. Florida DOR, "Account Management and Registration" — https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/eservices/Pages/registration.aspx — online application link and processing time.
  6. Florida DOR, "Florida Sales and Use Tax" — https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/pages/sales_tax.aspx — 6% general rate, DR-15DSS surtax listing.
  7. Florida DOR, "Secondhand Dealers and Secondary Metals Recyclers" GT-800036 — https://floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/brochure/gt800036.pdf — secondhand dealer registration at flea markets (seen via search excerpt only).

What we could not confirm

  • Confidence: medium. Florida has no dedicated craft show or event vendor publication. The conclusions rest on general registration rules, the occasional sale rule, and one line in GT-300015.
  • Rule text may be out of date. The rule text for 12A-1.037 and 12A-1.060 came from a Chapter 12A-1 Word compilation on flrules.org. Its 12A-1.060 history note ends at 6-14-22, but the flrules rule page shows a document effective 12/29/2025. Check the current rule text before relying on it.
  • DOR FAQ answers unreadable. DOR's FAQ has a question titled "I am a flea market vendor. Am I required to register for sales and use tax?", but the answer did not render for automated fetch.
  • Separate registration per event: whether vendors must register each event location or can operate under one certificate was not confirmed. The rule requires registration "for each place of business", and no event-specific guidance was found.
  • Fee: "no fee to register" was not confirmed on a current official page. A search result attributed that statement to a DOR TIP, but the TIP was actually about machinery exemptions and was not used.
  • Rule 12A-1.098 repealed. The former rule on "Itinerate Merchants, Flea Market Vendors and Other Retailers Without Permanent Places of Business" is listed as repealed.
  • Source 7 was seen only as a search excerpt; the PDF was not fetched.
  • Rent tax on booth fees: not researched. Consult a tax professional.