Tax planning clients for Florida CPA and EA firms

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Short answer

In Florida the owners to meet are S corporation owners with payroll, owners weighing C corporation status against the 5.5 percent tax and $50,000 exemption, and owners who still have income in a state that taxes it. There is no personal income tax, so the planning you sell is federal, plus a few Florida items such as the end of sales tax on commercial rent.

Florida is home to Financial Sales Insider, and it is an unusual state to sell planning in. There is no personal income tax, the corporate income tax only reaches some entities, and S corporations run a larger share of Florida's employer businesses than in any other state in our first batch. Planning here is mostly federal, so the owners worth meeting are the ones with real federal decisions to make. This page covers the Florida rules, the Florida market and those owners.

20 qualified tax planning meetings in 90 days, guaranteed.

Our team contacts and qualifies them so you don't waste time on the wrong leads, then books them on your calendar.

See if your firm is a fit

Planning in a state with no income tax

The Florida Department of Revenue says it plainly. Florida does not impose a personal income tax, so individuals have no Florida income tax return to file, though businesses can still have filing duties [1].

The tax that does reach businesses is the corporate income/franchise tax [2]:

• The rate is 5.5 percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022.
• A $50,000 exemption comes off before the rate applies.
• It applies to corporations, and to LLCs classified as corporations.
• An S corporation only files if it pays federal income tax on line 23c of Form 1120-S.
• An LLC taxed as a partnership files the Florida Partnership Information Return, Form F-1065, only when one or more of its owners is a corporation.
• Form F-1120 is generally due on the 1st day of the 5th month after the tax year ends, or the 15th day after the federal due date if that is later. For a December year-end, that is usually May 1.
• Estimated payments are required when the corporation owes more than $2,500 a year.

For most Florida owners of S corporations and partnerships, then, there is no Florida income tax on the business profit at either level.

Pass-through entity tax and Florida owners

Florida has no pass-through entity tax election, because it has no personal income tax for one to replace. The election other states offer exists because IRS Notice 2020-75 lets a partnership or S corporation deduct income tax it pays to a state and keeps that payment out of each owner's SALT limit [3]. A Florida owner who also owns part of a business in a state with an income tax may see that state's election on their K-1, and that is worth a look in a planning meeting.

The end of sales tax on commercial rent

Florida repealed the state sales tax on commercial rent. From October 1, 2025, no state sales tax or local surtax applies to rent or license fees for commercial real property, such as office space, retail space, warehouses and self-storage [4]. Rent for periods through September 2025 is still taxable even if paid later, and the repeal does not cover short-term accommodations, parking, boat docking or aircraft tie-downs [4]. A Florida business that rents commercial space pays less from that date.

Some services carry Florida sales tax. Nonresidential cleaning services are taxable, plus any local surtax, while cleaning for residential facilities falls outside the tax [5]. A cleaning or facilities business that serves both kinds of customer has to split its billing correctly.

The Florida tax and accounting market in numbers

From the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns for 2023, the most recent year published [6]. The counts cover locations with paid employees in mid-March 2023, so preparers working without staff are excluded. Percentages are our arithmetic.

Florida's numbers tilt small. CPA offices average about 8 employees, the lowest of our five batch 1 states, and 72 percent have fewer than 5. Among tax preparation offices, 2,047 of 2,518, about 81 percent, have fewer than 5 [6]. On the client side, S corporations run 61 percent of employer locations, about 14 points above the US share.

Licensing and the profession in Florida

The Florida Board of Accountancy sits within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, whose Division of Certified Public Accounting handles licensure [7]. To get an original license in Florida today, an applicant needs [7]:

• 150 semester hours (or 225 quarter hours), including 30 semester hours of upper-division accounting and 36 semester hours of general business;
• all four parts of the CPA Exam, passed within a rolling 30-month period;
• one year of work experience verified by a licensed CPA, at least 2,000 hours over 52 to 104 weeks, starting after 120 semester hours of college;
• an application completed within three years of passing the last exam part.

Florida has kept the 150-hour rule while several other states in this batch have opened 120-hour routes.

The state society is the Florida Institute of CPAs, FICPA [8].

Where a Florida planning fee comes from

Our view of what earns a planning fee in Florida:

• S corporation pay and distributions. With no state income tax on the profit, the federal salary question carries the whole planning conversation for most S corporation owners.
• Corporation or pass-through. A C corporation pays Florida's 5.5 percent above the $50,000 exemption [2]. An S corporation generally doesn't. Owners thinking about converting want that comparison run with numbers.
• Owners who still have income in a state that taxes it. Rental property, a partnership interest or a business left behind in another state keeps that state's rules alive for them.
• The rent repeal and cash flow. Business tenants stopped paying sales tax on rent from October 1, 2025 [4]. Firms can use that saving as a reason to revisit the owner's whole cash plan.
• Retirement plans for businesses with staff. 128,295 Florida employer locations have 10 to 99 employees [6].

Which Florida planning clients to chase

Labelled as our view, from the figures above:

1. S corporation owners with payroll. 396,234 Florida employer locations are run by S corporations, 61 percent of the state total [6]. Most of them face the salary and distribution question every year.
2. Owners deciding between C and S corporation status. The $50,000 exemption and the 5.5 percent rate make the math specific to Florida [2].
3. Partnerships with a corporate partner. They have a Florida filing [2] and usually a more complex ownership picture to plan around.
4. Owners with ties to a state that taxes income. The planning value sits in the other state's rules.

Our qualification check keeps out free-advice tire-kickers and clients who only call in March. The owners we book want planning during the year.

Want more Florida owners like these on your calendar? Tell us who you want, and we fill the meetings.

See if your firm is a fit

Florida dates to plan around

• 1st day of the 4th month after year-end: Form F-1065 partnership information return, where required [2].
• 1st day of the 5th month after year-end (May 1 for a December year-end): Form F-1120 corporate income tax return, or 15 days after the federal due date if later [2].
• October 1, 2025: sales tax on commercial rent ended [4].

Steps for a Florida firm this quarter

1. Pull every S corporation client with payroll and set a 2027 salary and distribution plan with each owner before December.
2. For any client weighing a switch to or from C corporation status, run the Florida 5.5 percent tax after the $50,000 exemption next to the federal numbers.
3. Check business clients who rent commercial space for sales tax still being charged on rent periods from October 1, 2025.
4. List clients with rental property, partnership interests or a business in a state that taxes income, and add that state's rules to their plan.
5. Review cleaning and facilities clients for correct sales tax on nonresidential work.

How we work with Florida firms

Financial Sales Insider is a marketing company based in Florida. We fill the calendars of CPA and EA firms across the US with qualified tax planning meetings, and Florida firms set the same written criteria as everyone else: owner type, entity, minimum revenue or profit, and the states you serve. Your firm runs each meeting, makes the offer and decides who to take on. Nothing goes out under your firm's name without your approval.

A qualified meeting is one where a business owner we've qualified books onto your calendar and shows up.

If you have fewer than 20 qualified meetings after 90 days, we keep booking with no further monthly fee until you reach 20.

$3,000 a month. This is the management fee. Ad spend is separate, and your firm funds it directly. The term is 3 months.

Questions Florida firm owners ask

Do you only work with Florida firms? No. We are a marketing company based in Florida, and we fill calendars for CPA and EA firms across the US.

Can you book only S corporation owners? Yes. Entity type is one of the criteria you sign off at kickoff, and our qualification check confirms it.

Do you give the owners tax advice? No. We fill your calendar with qualified owners. Your firm runs the meeting and gives the advice.

See if your firm is a fit

20 qualified tax planning meetings in 90 days, guaranteed.

Our team contacts and qualifies them so you don't waste time on the wrong leads, then books them on your calendar.

See if your firm is a fit

General information from the official sources listed below, checked October 25, 2026. Not tax or legal advice.

Also on this site

• Tax planning clients by state
• Texas
• California
• New York
• Illinois
• How we book qualified meetings
• About Financial Sales Insider

Sources

1. Florida Department of Revenue, FAQ: Do I have to file a personal income tax return in Florida? https://floridarevenue.com/faq/Pages/FAQDetails.aspx?FAQID=1466
2. Florida Department of Revenue, Corporate Income Tax. https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/pages/corporate.aspx
3. IRS Notice 2020-75. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-75.pdf
4. Florida Department of Revenue, Tax Information Publication 25A01-04, Sales Tax on Commercial Rentals Repealed Effective October 1, 2025. https://www.floridarevenue.com/taxes/tips/Documents/TIP_25A01-04.pdf
5. Florida Department of Revenue, Sales and Use Tax on Cleaning Services (GT-800015). https://www.floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/gt800015.pdf
6. US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, state file. https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/cbp/2023-cbp.html and https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/cbp23st.zip
7. Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Certified Public Accounting, Initial Licensure Requirements. https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/certified-public-accounting/licensure/
8. Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA). https://www.ficpa.org/