On its own line
Rule 12A-1.045(2) taxes a shipping charge automatically when it isn't separately stated on the invoice or bill of sale, folding it straight into the taxable price of the goods. Nothing below matters until this baseline is met.
Seller paperwork
In Florida, a shipping charge is taxable unless the invoice proves otherwise
Florida's default is yes. Rule 12A-1.045 of the Florida Administrative Code defines a transportation charge to include carrying, delivery, freight, handling, pickup and shipping, and folds an unstated one straight into the taxable price of the sale. A seller only gets out of that by separately stating the charge on the invoice and then clearing one more test: either the buyer can avoid the charge by their own choice, or the sale was made F.O.B. origin with the charge broken out. Read from the Florida Department of Revenue on 2026-08-28.
Florida DOR rule, quotedRead 2026-08-28Written for sellers
One rule, two escape hatches
Separately state the charge, then either let the buyer avoid it or sell F.O.B. origin. Miss both and Florida taxes the shipping line with the merchandise.
Two conditions, one exemption
Can the buyer skip it?
A separately stated charge is still taxable under 12A-1.045(3)(a) when the seller requires delivery to a set place and the buyer has no way to avoid paying for it. The exemption in 12A-1.045(4)(a) needs the opposite: a charge the buyer could have avoided by their own decision.
Who holds title at pickup
12A-1.045(5) treats a sale as F.O.B. origin, title passing to the buyer the moment a carrier takes the package, as grounds to leave a separately stated charge out of the taxable price. Without records showing otherwise, Florida presumes F.O.B. origin.
The Department has cleared a shipping fee on exactly these terms before. In Technical Assistance Advisement 14A-009, an online seller's shipping and handling charge went untaxed because its sale terms put title with the buyer at the moment of pickup and its invoices broke the fee out as its own line, both conditions of 12A-1.045(5) at once.
What Rule 12A-1.045 actually says
Five pieces of the rule do the actual work, and a seller only needs the one that fits how a sale is made. Florida Department of Revenue Technical Assistance Advisement 14A-009 quotes each of them in full while applying the rule to a real shipping fee.
| Rule 12A-1.045 | What it says | What it means for a shipping charge |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Definition | “Transportation charges” include carrying, delivery, freight, handling, pickup, shipping, and other similar charges or fees. | Covers a shipping line no matter what a seller calls it, including a combined shipping-and-handling fee. |
| (2) Default | A charge not separately stated on the invoice, but included in the price of taxable goods, is subject to tax. | One combined figure with no shipping line taxes the whole amount along with the merchandise. |
| (3)(a) Mandatory delivery | Where the seller must deliver to a set place and the purchaser cannot avoid the transportation charge, it is subject to tax even when separately stated on the invoice. | Splitting the line does nothing by itself if the buyer never had a real choice about paying it. |
| (4)(a) The exemption | A transportation charge is untaxed only when it is separately stated on the invoice and the buyer can avoid it by their own decision or action. | Both conditions have to hold together. An itemized line the buyer still can't escape does not qualify. |
| (5) F.O.B. origin | Where title to the property passes at the point of origin, a separately stated transportation charge is not part of the taxable price; when documentation doesn't establish where title passed, Florida presumes it passed at the point of origin. | Covers the ordinary shipped sale: title passing to the buyer when the carrier takes the package exempts an itemized shipping line even without an avoidable-charge option. |
Two different doors lead to the same exemption, and a seller needs only one of them open. A mail-order business that never lets the buyer opt out of shipping usually walks through the F.O.B. origin door instead; a seller who genuinely offers in-store pickup can use the other one.
What this means for a Florida sale
Put the charge on its own line and call it shipping. Florida's rule doesn't split shipping from handling the way some other states do, so nothing is gained by keeping the words apart, but a bundled figure that isn't broken out from the price of the goods fails the separately-stated test regardless of what it's named.
For a straightforward shipped sale — a buyer pays, a carrier is chosen, the package goes into transit — the F.O.B. origin path in 12A-1.045(5) is usually what does the work: title passes to the buyer at pickup, and Florida presumes exactly that when nothing on file says otherwise. The itemized line is still required. Without it, no part of the rule reaches an exemption.
None of this changes what the shipment itself costs to move, only whether Florida adds tax on top of that figure. The calculator on this site prices the box being sent, so the number on the itemized shipping line is a real one rather than an estimate.
Common questions
Is shipping taxable in Florida?
By default, yes. Florida's Rule 12A-1.045 folds a shipping, delivery, freight, handling or pickup charge into the taxable sale price unless the charge is separately stated on the invoice and either the buyer can avoid it or the sale is F.O.B. origin.
Does writing shipping on its own line make it tax-free?
Not by itself. A separately stated charge is still taxable under 12A-1.045(3)(a) when the seller requires delivery to a set place and the buyer has no way to avoid paying it. The line only helps once one of the rule's two further conditions is also met.
What does F.O.B. origin mean for a shipping charge?
It is the point where title to the goods passes to the buyer. Under 12A-1.045(5), a separately stated shipping charge is left out of the taxable price when title passes at the point of origin, which for most shipped orders is the moment a carrier picks up the package. Florida presumes F.O.B. origin when a seller's records don't show otherwise.
Does Florida tax handling differently from shipping?
No. Rule 12A-1.045(1) defines carrying, delivery, freight, handling, pickup and shipping as one category, transportation charges. Florida doesn't split the words the way some other states do, so nothing changes by billing them under separate line items instead of together.
Where is Florida's rule on shipping charges published?
Rule 12A-1.045, F.A.C., Transportation Charges. Its own record reads new 10-7-68, amended 6-16-72 and 7-3-79, formerly 12A-1.45, amended 10-17-94 — so the text quoted here has stood since October 17, 1994. The Florida Department of Revenue applies it in Technical Assistance Advisement 14A-009, which is linked below with the date it was read for this page.
Where this comes from
- Florida Department of Revenue, Technical Assistance Advisement 14A-009, Sales and Use Tax on Shipping and Handling Fees — quotes Rule 12A-1.045, F.A.C. in full and applies it to a real shipping-fee question. Issued April 3, 2014, read 2026-08-28.
- Florida Administrative Code and Register, Rule 12A-1.045, Transportation Charges — the rule's own record: new 10-7-68, amended 6-16-72, 7-3-79, formerly 12A-1.45, amended 10-17-94. Read 2026-08-28.
This page summarizes one Florida agency document as published on the date shown. It isn't tax advice, and both the rule and how the Department applies it can change without notice. Confirm current treatment with the Department directly, or with somebody licensed to advise on your specific filing.