Florida’s RT-6 filing requirements apply to every employer liable for the state’s Reemployment Tax: file the Employer’s Quarterly Report with the Florida Department of Revenue by the last day of the month following each calendar quarter, report each employee’s wages up to the first $7,000 paid in the calendar year, and file electronically if you had 10 or more employees in any quarter of the preceding state fiscal year. A return is due every active quarter even when you paid no wages, so a “nothing to report” quarter still needs to be filed.
Who Has to File
You become liable for Florida Reemployment Tax, and must begin filing the RT-6, once your business crosses either of two thresholds in a calendar year: paying at least $1,500 in total wages during any single quarter, or employing one or more workers for any part of a day during 20 different weeks.1Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Reemployment Tax The 20-week test doesn’t require the same worker each week, and even a few hours of work in a week counts.
Before you can file, you need a Reemployment Tax Account Number. Register through the DOR’s online Florida Business Tax Application, or submit a paper Form DR-1.2Florida Department of Revenue. Account Management and Registration Your first RT-6 is due in the month following the calendar quarter in which you first employ workers.1Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Reemployment Tax
One point catches many new employers: as long as your account is active, you must file every quarter, even when you had no employees and owe zero tax.3Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Return and Payment Information Skipping a zero quarter counts as late filing and draws the $25-per-month penalty.
Quarterly Deadlines
The RT-6 is due on the first day of the month following each calendar quarter and is late if not filed by the last day of that month:3Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Return and Payment Information
- Q1 (January–March): due by April 30
- Q2 (April–June): due by July 31
- Q3 (July–September): due by October 31
- Q4 (October–December): due by January 31 of the following year
When a due date falls on a weekend or state holiday, paper filers get the next business day. Electronic filers do not. You must initiate an electronic payment and receive a confirmation number by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the business day before the due date.4Florida Department of Revenue. Florida eServices Calendar of Electronic Payment Deadlines A payment confirmed after 5:00 p.m. won’t process until the next business day and is treated as late.
What Goes on the Return
The RT-6 requires the following for each quarter:5Florida Department of Revenue. Employer’s Quarterly Report RT-6
- The number of full-time and part-time covered workers who performed services or received pay during the payroll period that includes the 12th of each month in the quarter.
- Each employee’s Social Security number and name, last name first, up to 12 characters of the last name and 8 of the first.
- Gross wages paid to each employee during the quarter.
- Excess wages, meaning the portion of each employee’s wages above the $7,000 annual cap that is not taxable.
- Taxable wages: gross wages minus excess wages.
- Tax due: taxable wages multiplied by your assigned rate.
Inaccurate Social Security numbers are one of the most common RT-6 errors, and they trigger the erroneous-report penalty. Verify every SSN before you submit.
Wages to Include
Gross wages on the RT-6 cover more than salary or hourly pay. Commissions, bonuses, back-pay awards, and the cash value of non-cash payments all count.6Florida Department of Revenue. What Employers Need to Know About Reemployment Tax Tips are wages too, but only when the employee gives you a written statement of tips. Only employees’ wages get reported; payments to genuine independent contractors do not. Intentionally misclassifying an employee as a contractor is a felony under Florida law, and even unintentional misclassification exposes you to back taxes, interest, and penalties on audit.7Florida Department of Revenue. Classification of Workers for Reemployment Tax
Your Tax Rate
New employers start at 2.7%, and that rate holds for your first 10 quarters (sometimes 11, depending on when liability began). After that, the DOR calculates an experience-based rate reflecting former employees’ benefit claims.8Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Rate Information For 2026, rates range from 0.1% ($7 per employee per year) to 5.4% ($378 per employee per year), always on the first $7,000 of wages. The 5.4% maximum can also be assigned as a penalty if you’re more than a year delinquent or fail to produce records during an audit. Your current rate arrives on the annual rate notice the DOR mails to contributing employers; keep it accessible for quarter-end.
Filing Electronically or on Paper
If your business employed 10 or more workers in any quarter during the preceding state fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), you must file the RT-6 and pay the tax electronically.3Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Return and Payment Information There is no waiver from the electronic payment requirement. If a valid business reason prevents electronic filing of the wage report itself, you can request a filing waiver by calling the DOR’s Tax Information and Assistance line at 850-488-6800.
To file online, log into the DOR’s File and Pay portal using your Reemployment Tax account number along with either your federal employer identification number or a DOR-issued user ID and password. Wage data can be entered manually or uploaded as a formatted file. Employers who stayed below 10 employees in every quarter of the preceding fiscal year can file a paper RT-6, which the DOR mails automatically each quarter. Checks are payable to “Florida U.C. Fund.”
Electronic payments run through either ACH Debit, where the DOR pulls funds from your bank account, or ACH Credit, where you push the transfer to the DOR through your bank. ACH Credit requires the specific format in Form DR-600TP.9Florida Department of Revenue. Filing and Paying Taxes Electronically You can pay without enrolling in eServices, but you’ll need to provide two identifying numbers (such as your FEIN and Reemployment Tax account number) each time.
Annual E-Verify Certification
Private employers with 25 or more employees performing services in Florida must use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the work eligibility of new hires. Each year, these employers certify their E-Verify compliance on the first RT-6 they file for the calendar year.10Florida Department of Revenue. New Employee Eligibility and E-Verify Frequently Asked Questions The certification appears as a signature block on the form. Recertification is required every January, not only in the year you begin using E-Verify. All public agencies must certify regardless of size.
Penalties for Late or Wrong Filings
Penalties stack. A single quarter can carry a late-filing penalty, an erroneous-report penalty, and interest at the same time.
A delinquent RT-6 draws $25 for every 30 days (or any fraction of 30 days) that it remains unfiled.3Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Return and Payment Information The DOR can waive this if you show good reason, but “I forgot” generally won’t qualify.11Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 443.141 – Contributions and Reimbursements
Filing a report with wrong SSNs, missing employees, or other errors carries a penalty of $50 or 10% of any tax due, whichever is greater, up to $300 per report. This penalty is waived if you file an accurate corrected report within 30 days of receiving the penalty notice, but you can only use that waiver once in any 12-month period.
If you’re required to file electronically and submit a paper return instead, the penalty is $25 per report plus $1 for each employee listed on the report, up to $300.
Unpaid tax accrues interest at a floating rate the DOR updates on January 1 and July 1. For the first half of 2026, the rate is 11%.12Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Tax and Interest Rates The rate cannot exceed 1% per month. If you don’t file at all, the DOR can estimate your wages and assess tax, interest, and accumulated penalties on its own.
Correcting a Return You Already Filed
If you find errors after submitting an RT-6, file a correction. Employers required to file electronically must correct electronically; the DOR’s filing portal has an option to correct a previously submitted report, and Form RT-800003 walks through the process. Paper filers correct by mailing Form RT-8A, the Correction to Employer’s Quarterly or Annual Domestic Report.3Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Return and Payment Information The DOR can require corrections going back up to five years.
Records and Audit Exposure
Florida requires employers to keep accurate payroll records for five calendar years, matching the DOR’s five-year audit window.13Florida Department of Revenue. Employer Guide to Reemployment Tax Poor recordkeeping does more than trigger fines. If you can’t produce requested records during an audit, the DOR strips your earned experience rate and assigns the 5.4% maximum until the quarter after you provide the documentation. For an employer with dozens of employees, that jump can cost thousands per quarter.
When Your Filing Situation Changes
Closing the Business or Ending Employment
If your business closes or you stop employing workers, notify the DOR in writing after paying final wages and file a final RT-6 covering the last quarter with wages.14Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Additional Topics Until you formally close the account, the DOR expects a return every quarter and will assess late-filing penalties for each missing one. If you later resume hiring, you’ll need to reestablish liability the same way any new employer would.
Buying or Selling a Business
If you acquire an existing Florida business, in whole or in part, file Form RTS-1S within 90 days of the acquisition date.15Florida Department of Revenue. Report to Determine Succession and Application for Transfer of Experience Rating Records As a successor employer, you can choose to accept the previous owner’s experience-based rate rather than starting at 2.7%, but accepting the rate also means accepting responsibility for any tax the previous owner owed. Common ownership or management between the old and new entities still requires notice to the DOR within 90 days, though the full RTS-1S form may not be needed. When your entity type changes (say, partnership to corporation), file a new DR-1 to update your registration.
Nonprofit and Government Employers
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit or a government agency may not file the RT-6 at all. These employers can elect to become “reimbursing employers” instead, and the DOR then sends Form RT-29 each quarter billing them dollar-for-dollar for unemployment benefits actually paid to their eligible former employees.16Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 443.1312 – Reimbursements Nonprofit Organizations A newly liable nonprofit elects reimbursement by filing written notice within 30 days of being determined subject to the law, and the election locks in for the remainder of the current calendar year plus the next full calendar year. A nonprofit already paying the standard tax can switch by filing at least 30 days before a calendar year begins, then must remain on reimbursement for at least two calendar years.
Employees Who Work in More Than One State
When employees work in Florida and elsewhere, Florida applies a four-part test in order to decide which state gets the wages:13Florida Department of Revenue. Employer Guide to Reemployment Tax
- Where the work happens. If all or most of the work is in Florida with only occasional duties elsewhere, report to Florida.
- Base of operations. The fixed location the employee works out of, receives instructions from, or starts the day at.
- Place of direction or control. The state from which you exercise authority over the work, often headquarters.
- Employee’s residence. Used only when the first three don’t resolve the question.
For employees who routinely work across multiple states on a continuing basis, a Reciprocal Coverage Agreement can allow reporting all wages to a single state. Without one, register in each state where the employee performs services and report wages accordingly.