Florida Massage License Renewal: Fees, CE, and Deadlines

A Florida massage license renewal costs $105 when filed on time, requires 24 hours of continuing education completed during the two-year cycle, and must be submitted by midnight Eastern on August 31 of odd-numbered years. The next deadline is August 31, 2027.¹ Miss it and your license goes delinquent immediately, adds a $100 surcharge, and doubles your education requirement.²

When Your License Expires

Every Florida massage therapy license expires at midnight Eastern Time on August 31 of odd-numbered years, no matter when you originally received it.¹ The current biennium closes August 31, 2027.³

The Department of Health sends a reminder to the mailing address on file several months before expiration. That notice is a courtesy, not a legal requirement. If your address is outdated, you won’t receive it, and you’re still responsible for renewing on time. Update your address through your MQA online account well before the renewal window opens.

What Renewal Costs

The on-time biennial renewal fee for an active license is $105: a $100 renewal fee plus a $5 unlicensed activity fee that funds enforcement against unlicensed practitioners.⁴

Inactive-to-inactive renewal is the same $105. Reactivating from inactive to active before expiration costs $205. Reactivating after the license has already expired jumps to $355.³

Payment is made online through the MQA Online Services portal using Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.

Continuing Education Requirements

You need 24 hours of approved continuing education during each two-year cycle.⁵ Seven of those hours cover mandatory topics set by the board:

Prevention of medical errors: 2 hours
Florida laws and rules: 2 hours
Professional ethics: 2 hours
Human trafficking awareness: 1 hour

The remaining 17 hours split into two categories. Twelve must be classroom hours taken in the physical presence of an instructor, with hands-on participation or live demonstration.⁶ The other five can be standard instruction hours, including online or distance-learning formats. The 12-hour classroom requirement is where people get caught short. You can’t cram live courses into the final week the way you might with an online ethics module.

An instruction hour means at least 50 minutes of a clock hour spent in an approved course from an approved provider.⁷ Approved sources include board-approved providers, approved Florida massage schools, the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB), and certain first-aid organizations such as the American Heart Association and American Red Cross. All completed hours must be reported through CE Broker, the state’s electronic tracking system, before you can renew.

How to Renew Online

Renewal runs entirely through the Department of Health’s MQA Online Services portal. Before logging in, confirm that all 24 CE hours show as reported in CE Broker. The system checks your education record during renewal, and unverified hours will block your submission.

Once logged in with your license number and password, the portal walks you through a series of questions, asks you to confirm all required education has been completed and reported, and takes payment. A confirmation receipt and updated license status appear in the system after the transaction clears. The whole process runs about 10 to 15 minutes if your CE hours are already complete.

Renewing an Inactive License

If you stopped practicing and placed your license on inactive status, you still need to renew every two years to keep it from going delinquent. Reactivating to active status before expiration costs $205, and you must submit proof that you completed the continuing education requirements for every biennium the license was inactive. If your license sat inactive for more than two consecutive renewal cycles, the board may require a competency examination or additional reactivation conditions before restoring active status.³ Practicing on an inactive license carries the same consequences as practicing without a license at all.⁸

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Miss August 31 and your license goes delinquent that night. You cannot legally practice massage therapy in Florida until you fix it.² Any work performed while delinquent is treated as unlicensed practice, which can trigger disciplinary action and criminal prosecution.⁹

A delinquent active-status renewal costs $205: the standard $105 plus a $100 delinquent surcharge. Reactivating from delinquent inactive status runs $355. You must also complete all CE hours for both the expired cycle and the current cycle before the board will reactivate your license — up to 48 hours of continuing education instead of 24, including the mandatory topics for both periods.³

When a License Becomes Null and Void

A delinquent license that still isn’t renewed by the end of the following renewal cycle becomes null and void automatically, with no further action from the board.³ For the current cycle, any license that remains delinquent past September 1, 2027, will be voided.

A null-and-void license cannot be renewed or reactivated. You would have to apply for a completely new license, meeting every original requirement: completing an approved massage therapy program, passing the national examination, undergoing background screening, and paying the full initial application and licensing fees.¹⁰ That path costs $255 at minimum and takes considerably longer than a routine renewal.

1
Cornell Law Institute. Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 64B7-28.0043 – Biennial Renewal of Massage Therapist License
2
Florida Board of Massage Therapy. Maintaining Your License
3
Florida Board of Massage Therapy. Licensed Massage Therapist
4
Florida Board of Massage Therapy. Fees Archives
5
Florida Board of Massage Therapy. Continuing Education (CE)
6
Florida Board of Massage Therapy. CE Requirements Update – Hands-on by Distance
7
Cornell Law Institute. Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 64B7-28.009 – Required Continuing Education for Massage Therapists
8
Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 456.036 – Licenses; Active and Inactive Status; Delinquency
9
Florida Department of Health. Unlicensed Activity
10
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 480 – Massage Practice