Florida · Payroll registration
Florida reemployment tax registration, done for you.
Florida has no state income tax on wages, so payroll here means one thing: reemployment tax, which is what Florida renamed unemployment compensation in 2012. A new business must report its initial employment in the month following the calendar quarter in which employment begins.
Who you are dealing with
Florida Department of Revenue
- Handles:
- Reemployment tax. There is no state wage withholding account in Florida
- System:
- Florida Business Tax Application, online
- Form:
- Register using the online Florida Business Tax Application, or submit the paper version, Form DR-1. Quarterly reporting is on Form RT-6
State fee. $0 to register. Our flat fee covers preparing and filing the application.
When you have to register
An employer is liable if it meets any one of several conditions. At least one quarterly payroll totalling $1,500 or more in a calendar year, counting both full and part-time wages. Or one or more employees for a day, or part of a day, during any 20 weeks in a calendar year. Nonprofits under section 3306(c)(8) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act and section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code have their own threshold: four or more employees for a day, or part of a day, during any 20 weeks in a calendar year.
What comes next
Not applicable to a registration. We do not currently publish a Florida closure page, because we could not confirm the difference between terminating liability and inactivating an account from the Department's own material. We will add it when we can.
How long it takes
Florida does not publish a registration turnaround we could confirm. The timing obligation runs the other way: report initial employment in the month following the calendar quarter in which employment begins.
What we do
We work out exactly which accounts you need, prepare and submit each registration, and hand you the account numbers, rates, and deposit schedules your payroll system asks for. One flat price per account, and any state fee passed through at cost.
What makes Florida harder than average
- The reporting deadline is measured by quarter, not by payroll. Initial employment is reported in the month following the calendar quarter in which employment begins, so hiring in the first week of a quarter gives you longer than hiring in the last week, and neither is tied to your pay run.
- Nonprofits have a different threshold, and it is higher. A 501(c)(3) needs four or more employees for a day during any 20 weeks, where an ordinary employer needs one. Worth checking rather than assuming the standard test applies.
- The taxable wage base is low. Only the first $7,000 paid to each employee in a calendar year is subject to tax; anything above that is excess wages. That makes the cost per employee front-loaded into the early part of the year.
- No withholding account is correct, not missing. Payroll software asking for a Florida state withholding ID has no answer, because Florida does not tax wages. Reemployment tax is the whole of it.
Questions and answers
Do I need a Florida withholding account?
No. Florida has no state income tax on wages. Payroll here means reemployment tax with the Department of Revenue and nothing else.
When do I have to report?
A new business reports its initial employment in the month following the calendar quarter in which employment begins.
What makes me liable?
Any one of several conditions, including at least one quarterly payroll totalling $1,500 or more in a calendar year, or one or more employees for a day or part of a day during any 20 weeks in a calendar year. Nonprofits use a four employee version of the 20 week test.
Why is it called reemployment tax?
Florida renamed its Unemployment Compensation Law the Reemployment Assistance Program Law in 2012. It is the same category of tax other states call unemployment, which is why searches using the usual wording return so little.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, entity type including whether you are a 501(c)(3), Florida work locations, the date employment begins, and expected quarterly payroll.
Agency details verified 2026-08-03