The tourist development tax, as defined by the Florida Department of Revenue, is a tax that must be collected from every person that "rents, leases, or lets for consideration any living quarters or accommodations in any hotel, motel, apartment house, multiple unit structure (e.g., duplex, triplex, condominium,) rooming house, tourist or mobile home court (trailer court, R.V. camp, etc.) single family dwelling, garage apartment, beach house or cottage, cooperatively owned apartment, condominium parcel or mobile home for a term of six months or less." These taxable transactions collected by the court of clerks from the bed tax collectors, are known as "transient rentals."

Bed tax numbers are collected and reported on a monthly lag basis. The OEDE is now publishing bed taxes at their actual collections and at the 2% level for comparison.

Current Actual Collection Numbers
Current 2% Level Numbers
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Florida Department of Revenue
Tax Collections and Distribution:  http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/taxes/distributions.html

History of Local Sales Tax and Current Rates: 
https://taxlaw.state.fl.us/wordfiles/SUT%20TRC%20HISTORY.doc

Bed Taxes in Northwest Florida
The counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay make up the counties of Northwest Florida that collect bed taxes and experience seasonal fluctuations of visitors, as the counties border the Gulf of Mexico.  Below is a chart illustrating bed tax activity in Northwest Florida since January, 2003.  All bed tax collections are at the 2 percent level for comparison.