The City of Tampa assesses municipal public services tax on the purchase of electricity, metered natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas either metered or bottled, manufactured gas either metered or bottled, and water service, pursuant to Chapter 166.231, Florida Statutes and the City of Tampa, Florida Code of Ordinances, Article II, Sections 24-26 through 24-34 & Article IV, Sections 24-71 through 24-100.
The City of Tampa municipal public services tax is levied at the rate of 10% upon the above-listed purchases and is collected by the seller. Services competitive with those enumerated above, as defined by ordinance, shall be taxed on a comparable base at the same rates. However, fuel oil is taxed at a rate of four cents ($.04) per gallon.
City of Tampa Fuel Oil Tax
The City of Tampa assesses municipal public services tax on fuel oil, pursuant to Chapter 166.231(2), Florida Statutes (see above links). The term fuel oil, pursuant to Tampa City Code Sec. 24-74, shall include fuel oil grade numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, kerosene and coal oil.
Tampa City Code indicates that it is unlawful for any seller of fuel oil to collect the price of any sale of fuel oil without at the same time collecting the tax hereby imposed and levied with respect to each purchase thereof, unless the purchaser has been granted by the city a tax exempt status wherein the seller shall be relieved of the responsibility of collecting the fuel oil tax (See Tax Report Form here.)
The City of Tampa provides a listing of purchasers who have certified that they are exempt or excluded from the City's municipal public services tax on fuel oil. Should a seller wish to ensure that a purchaser not on the listing certifies such exemption or exclusion, they are encouraged to immediately contact the purchaser and request that a City of Tampa Exemption Certificate Application be completed and filed with the City. A copy of a blank Exemption Certificate Application is available here. Updated information should be provided to the City as is applicable.
The City publishes an updated listing for sellers of fuel oil of those purchasers who have so certified on Fridays as new entities present a completed form. See current listing here.
City of Tampa Communications Services Tax (CST)
The City of Tampa levies a local communications services tax, which is administered in accordance with Chapter 202 of the Florida Statutes:
The rate of the City's local CST is 5.22 percent. The local tax indicated on communications billings also includes a Hillsborough County sales surtax rate of 1.4 percent.