REMINDER: NEW eFILE AND PAY SYSTEM FOR FLORIDA REEMPLOYMENT TAXES

The Florida Department of Revenue has transitioned to a new system for employers to file their quarterly reemployment taxes.

Most employers will first use the new system to file their electronic Employer’s Quarterly Report (RT-6) for the third quarter of 2026, which is due October 31, 2026.

Employers can access the new system at floridarevenue.com/taxes/filepay. Select Reemployment Tax – Employers, Agents, and Employee Leasing under the eFile and Pay Taxes and Fees section or click here.

Bookmarks for the old site cannot be used to file or pay. Employers will use their current login credentials to access the new system. Depending on how you access the system, you can log in using your:

  • User ID and password or
  • Reemployment tax (RT) number and federal employer identification number (FEIN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)

Login credentials saved in the old system will not be transferred to the new system. You must manually enter your credentials when accessing the new system.

Employers enrolled in eServices can retrieve their User ID and password through the Department of Revenue’s self-service Password Retrieval Portal.

REMINDER: FLORIDA MINIMUM WAGE IS NOW $15.00 AN HOUR 

The mandatory minimum wage in Florida for all employees is now $15 an hour as of September 30, 2026.

For tipped employees, the minimum cash wage is now $11.98 an hour, not including tips. An employer must pay a cash wage of $11.98 an hour to all tipped employees in addition to the tips the employee receives from customers.

A tipped employee’s wage of $11.98 an hour plus tips received from customers during their shift must add up to at least the state minimum wage of $15. If not, the employer must make up the difference.

All Florida businesses are required to display a Florida minimum wage poster, even if all employees are paid more than minimum wage.

As a benefit of your FUBA membership, we sent you an updated Florida minimum wage poster with last month’s newsletter.

Additional copies of this poster are free for FUBA members. You can either print additional copies from the Publications section of our website at FUBA.org or you can request additional color copies by emailing us at FUBA@fuba.org.

All Florida businesses are required to display a Florida minimum wage poster, even if all employees are paid higher than minimum wage. This poster updates every September.
 
We have mailed you an updated Florida minimum wage poster this week with the hard copy of this newsletter. Please post it at your workplace where employees can see it.

Additional copies of this poster are free for FUBA members. You can either print additional copies from the Publications section of our website at FUBA.org, or you can request additional color copies by emailing us at FUBA@fuba.org.

One of the most valuable benefits of your company’s FUBA membership is this free subscription to the posters required to be posted at your workplace. The experts at FUBA monitor all workplace posters so you do not have to.

REMINDER: EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS UNDER “NO TAX ON TIPS” LAW  

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law last July, tipped employees in qualifying occupations do not pay federal income tax on up to $25,000 in qualified tips they receive.

What is a qualified tip? Only voluntary tips qualify for the “no tax on tips” deduction. The tip cannot be automatically charged, and the amount cannot be mandatory.

If customers are given the ability to leave a tip and to decide how much tip to leave, those tips are considered voluntary and do count as a “qualified tip.”

For example, if a restaurant bill includes a recommended tip of 18% but provides a line for the customer to subtract or add to the suggested 18%, any amount of tip left by the customer counts as a “qualified tip.”

Similarly, if your Point-of-Sale system gives customers the ability to leave no tip, any amount left by the customer is a qualified tip, even if the system also suggests tips in other various amounts.

However, service charges, automatic gratuities, and other mandatory amounts added to a customer’s bill are not “qualified tips” and are still subject to federal income tax.

What is a qualified occupation? To use the “no tax on tips” deduction, an employee must be in a “qualifying occupation” that customarily receives tips and is on a list of qualifying occupations from the IRS. The list includes jobs like:

  • Bartenders, bar helpers, and bar backs
  • Wait staff in restaurants
  • Food and beverage servers outside restaurants, such as hotel rooms and residential care facilities
  • Chefs and cooks
  • Food prep workers
  • Dishwashers
  • Party planners and event photographers
  • Golf caddies
  • Locker room attendants
  • Parking and valet attendants
  • Hotel employees like bellhops, concierges, and housekeepers
  • Plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, and home repairers/landscapers
  • Nannies and babysitters
  • Tutors
  • Pet sitters
  • Facialists, hairstylists, and massage therapists

Recordkeeping requirements for businesses with tipped employees: The OBBBA requires employers to include on each employee’s Form W-2:

  • The total amount of cash tips reported to the employer, including tips received in cash, charged to a credit card, or under a tip-sharing arrangement in Box 12 using code “TP”; and
  • The employee’s occupation code(s) in new Box 14b.

The early release draft of the IRS instructions for the 2026 Form W-2 indicates that: (a) employers will be able to enter up to two codes for each employee; (b) if tips were received in more than two occupations, the employer will be required to enter just two of them; and (c) if any tips were received in a nonqualifying occupation, then “000” must be input as one of the codes.

Employers should prepare now to ensure that they are ready to comply with their tax reporting obligation in early January.