CopyCited 14 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 4099, 1999 WL 133017
same under the AWPA and the FLSA. See 29 U.S.C. § 203(1); 29 U.S.C. § 1802(2). An entity “employs” a person
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Cited as authorityKRAGE (2021)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyCited 8 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 15061, 2015 WL 5023891
... Case: 14-14524 Date Filed: 08/26/2015 Page: 4 of 64
Florida also imposes a tax “on gross receipts from utility services that are
delivered to a retail consumer” in Florida (“the Utility Tax”). See Fla. Stat. §
203.01(1)(a)(1) (2012). 3 The statute permits a utility provider, at its discretion, to
separately state this Utility Tax as a line item on the customer’s bill but does not
require it to do so. See id. § 203.01(4)....
...every person for the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services
business, and each provider of the taxable services remains fully and completely
liable for the tax, even if the tax is separately stated as a line item or component of
the total bill.” Id. § 203.01(5).
Similarly, Florida’s administrative regulations specify that even when stated
on the consumer’s bill, the “tax is imposed on the privilege of doing business, and
it is an item of cost to the distribution company,” who...
...uncollected billings when it prepays the tax to the state based on gross billings, as
opposed to actual gross receipts. Fla. Admin. Code R. 12B-6.005(1)(e). A service
provider who fails to remit the tax to the state is also guilty of a misdemeanor. Fla.
Stat. § 203.01(6).
Florida assessed the Rental Tax against the Ark Entities for the period of
July 2005 through June 2008....
...015 Page: 50 of 64
2. The Legal Incidence of Florida’s Utility Tax Falls on the Utility Company
Florida imposes a tax on the “gross receipts from utility services that are
delivered to a retail consumer” in Florida. See Fla. Stat. § 203.01(1)(a)(1) (2012).
In evaluating where the legal incidence of this tax falls, we consider the framework
and language of the statute.
The statute, which is contained in Chapter 203 of the Florida Statutes—a
chapter devoted exclusiv...
...the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services business, and each
provider of the taxable services remains fully and completely liable for the tax,
even if the tax is separately stated as a line item or component of the total bill.” Id.
§ 203.01(5) (emphasis added)....
...50
Case: 14-14524 Date Filed: 08/26/2015 Page: 51 of 64
In determining that the legal incidence of Florida’s Utility Tax fell on the
consumer Tribe, the district court relied on §
203.01(4), Fla. Stat., to conclude that
“[e]very consumer is required to ‘remit the tax’ to the utility company as part of
the total bill.” Seminole Tribe,
49 F. Supp. 3d at 1104. On appeal, the Tribe
similarly invokes §
203.01(4) in an effort to show that the legislature intended to
require the Utility Tax to be passed through to the consumer. But this provision of
the statute applies only when the utility service provider has elected to itemize the
tax separately on its bills—a choice completely left to the discretion of the service
provider. See Fla. Stat. §
203.01(4) (“The tax imposed pursuant to this chapter
relating to the provision of any utility services at the option of the person
supplying the taxable services may be separately stated ....
...us19
here than in Chickasaw Nation.
The district court also put significant weight on a provision of the statute
concerning an exemption regarding certain natural-gas customers. Seminole Tribe,
49 F. Supp. 3d at 1104-05 (citing Fla. Stat. §
203.01(3)(d)). That provision states
that the Utility Tax does not apply to natural-gas sales to a limited class of
industrial customers that use the gas as an energy source or a raw material. Fla.
Stat. §
203.01(3)(d) (cross-referencing Fla....
...Compare Fla. Stat. §
212.05 (“It is
hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable
privilege who engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail
in this state . . . .”) with Fla. Stat. §
203.01(5) (2012) (“The tax is imposed upon
every person for the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services
business ....
...See
Chickasaw Nation,
515 U.S. at 460,
115 S. Ct. at 2221.
Finally, we observe that Florida also levies a sales tax on electricity, the
legal incidence of which falls on the purchaser of electricity. Fla. Stat. §
212.05(1)(e)(1)(c); see Fla. Stat. §
203.01(1)(a)(3); id....
...not apply its tax
60
Case: 14-14524 Date Filed: 08/26/2015 Page: 61 of 64
to sales of natural gas or electricity from one utility service provider to another.
See Fla. Stat. § 203.01(3)(a)(1), (2); Fla....
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Cited as authorityLeo (2025)phrase: "rule_authority"
Cited as authorityAdor (2024)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyCited 14 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...relator sought to compel the respondent, City of Pensacola, and certain of its officers to pay to the comptroller a gross receipts tax on the sale of natural gas by the City of Pensacola during 1955. The tax sought to be collected is that imposed by Section 203.01, Florida Statutes F.S.A....
...However, I am moved to say that the policy of exempting cities from paying the tax involved is not a wise one and is certain to result in further use of the exemption by other cities and on other utilities to the serious detriment of the state's revenue. HOBSON and THORNAL, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] "203.01....
0 red0 yellow2 green0 procedural
Cited as authorityDickinson (1973)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyCited 7 times | Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 28 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 1265, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15382, 1988 WL 105619
detrimental to their health or well-being. 29 U.S.C. § 203(1); see also McGee Bros.,
681 F.Supp. at 1135. The
0 red0 yellow3 green0 procedural
Cited as authorityTurkowski (2025)phrase: "rule_authority"
Cited as authorityWales (1999)phrase: "rule_authority"
Cited as authorityHerman (1998)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 600
...The current version of the public service tax statute, §
166.231, Fla. Stat. (1985), does not include "telephone service" in the list of taxable services. The present statute, §
166.231(9), Fla. Stat. (1985), authorizes a municipality to levy a tax on the purchase of "telecommunication services" as defined in section
203.012, Florida Statutes (1985). Section
203.012 is the definitional section of chapter 203, Florida Statutes (1985), which imposes a state gross receipts tax on utility services. The definition of "gross receipts from telecommunication services" in section
203.012 expressly excludes charges for CPE leased or rented by a customer from any source. §
203.012(2)(b)1, Fla. Stat. (1985). The current version of section
203.01 is the result of an amendment by chapter 84-342, section 1, Laws of Florida, in which the legislature imposed the gross receipts tax on "telecommunication services" rather than on the "use of telephones," a change similar to the amendm...
...The preamble to chapter 84-342 announces the expansion and clarification of the legislative intent of chapter 203, in response to the divestiture of AT & T. [2] See State v. Lanier,
464 So.2d 1192 (Fla. 1985). The interrelationship of chapter 203 and section
166.231 is evident from the legislature's reference to section
203.012 as the definitional section of the operative terms used in section
166.231, Florida Statutes (1985)....
0 red0 yellow4 green2 procedural
Cited as authorityKeck (2012)phrase: "rule_authority"
Cited as authorityBetterson (1994)phrase: "rule_authority"
Cited as authorityJones (1988)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyCited 3 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1959 Fla. App. LEXIS 3043
...e Comptroller’s duty to collect, control and disburse the same. For this reason the order appealed from is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings. Reversed and remanded. STURGIS, C. J., and THORNAL, Associate Judge, concur. . E.S. § 203.01, F.S.A., “Every person, including municipal corporations, receiving payment for electricity for light, heat or power, for natural or manufactured gas for light, heat or power, for use of telephones, and for the sending of telegrams and te...
0 red0 yellow3 green0 procedural
Cited as authorityFuchs (1999)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 140176
...ice during the period 10/1/91 through 9/30/94. We affirm. Florida imposes a gross receipts tax on every person that receives payment for any utility service, which includes telecommunication services. GTE is a provider of telecommunication services. Section 203.01, Florida Statutes (1991), states in pertinent part: (1)(a) Every person that receives payment for any utility service shall report by the last day of each month to the Department of Revenue ......
...* * * * * (6) The tax is imposed upon every person for the privilege of conducting a utility business, and each provider of the taxable services remains fully and completely liable for the tax, even if the tax is separately stated as a line item or component of the total bill. "Utility service" is defined in section 203.012(9), Florida Statutes (1991), to mean "electricity for light, heat, or power ......
...tutory definition of "telecommunication service" that services incidental to cellular service, such as detailed billing, should not be considered telecommunication services. The definition of "telecommunication service" is contained in section *1127 203.012(5), Florida Statutes (1991), and provides in pertinent part: The term `telecommunication service' means: (a) Local telephone service, toll telephone service, telegram or telegraph service, teletypewriter or computer exchange service, or priva...
...This case involves only the gross receipts taxes paid by GTE on the separately stated charges for the optional detailed billing. It does not involve taxes on charges for any actual "cellular telecommunication service" provided GTE customers as that term is defined in section 203.012(5)(b)....
...ctly construed and that any ambiguities or doubts must be resolved in favor of the taxpayer. See Mikos v. Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc.,
475 So.2d 292 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Appellant argues that in determining legislative intent, section
203.012(5) should be read in pari materia with section
203.012(2)(a), in which the legislature broadly defined what constitutes gross receipts from telecommunication services: (2)(a) Gross receipts from telecommunication services include the gross receipts for all telecommunication services of wh...
...uncement service charges; dial-it charges; local area data transport charges; key lines charges; private branch exchange trunk-flat rate charges; and directory listing charges other than yellowpage classified listing charges. We cannot conclude that section 203.012(2)(a) conflicts with the subsequent section 203.012(5), which specifically excludes incidental telecommunication services from the gross receipts tax....
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CopyCited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1960 Fla. LEXIS 2036
THORNAL, Justice. Appellant Green, who was defendant below, seeks reversal of a declaratory decree enjoining him as State Comptroller from collecting a portion of the gross receipts tax described in Section 203.01, Florida Statutes, F.S.A....
...which Western Union’s Florida rates are fixed by the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission. Insisting that the transaction is entirely intrastate the appellant Comptroller *715 has demanded payment of the gross receipts tax described in Section 203.01, supra, calculated on the entire gross receipts of Western Union derived from messages transmitted between Florida points but in the manner described above....
...Appellee Western Union contends that its operation is interstate and that its advocated method of apportionment of the tax on the line mileage basis is the only one which will enable the Comptroller to collect the tax in a manner comporting with the requirements of the Federal Constitution. The statute involved is Section 203.01, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., which in material parts reads as follows: “203.01....
0 red0 yellow1 green0 procedural
Cited as authorityHavill (1980)phrase: "rule_authority"
CopyPublished | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124162, 2014 WL 4388143
...ption. To ignore these regulations would be contrary to well-established precedent. 3. Florida’s Utility Tax Florida’s Utility Tax is “imposed on gross receipts from utility services that are *1103 delivered to a retail consumer.” Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (l)(a)(l) (2012)....
...Both the language and structure of Florida’s Utility Tax reveal that its legal incidence falls upon the consumer, not the utility company. Florida’s Utility Tax is “imposed on gross receipts from utility services that are delivered to a retail consumer.” Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (l)(a)(l) (2012). Every consumer is required to “remit the tax” to the utility company as a part of the total bill. Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (4)....
...Although a utility company may separately itemize the tax on a consumer’s bill, the consumer is still required to “remit the tax” to the utility company and the utility company is still responsible for collecting the tax and paying the State. See Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (4) & (5)....
...The Utility Tax has several provisions relating to exemptions based on the identity of the consumer. For example, certain consumers who are engaged in industrial operations are exempt from paying the Utility Tax when purchasing natural gas. See Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (3)(d)....
...the military purchasers.”). Stranburg argues that the legal incidence of the Utility Tax falls upon the utility company because the statute states that the “tax is imposed ... for the privilege of conducting a utility ... business.” Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (4)....
...The retailor “must add the amount of the tax to the sale price and separately state the amount, which then becomes part of the price of the sale.” Id. Under the Florida Utility Tax, the tax is automatically included in, and becomes part of, the utility bill, though it may be separately stated. See Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (4)....
...ayment since the utility company is not liable to pay the tax to' the State until it collects it from the consumer—is flawed. The tax is a debt of the consumer, owed to the utility company (to be forwarded to the State upon collection). Fla. Stat. § 203.01 (4)....
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CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1978 Fla. App. LEXIS 15090
SMITH, Acting Chief Judge. Merritt Square appeals from a circuit court judgment holding it liable to pay the tax imposed by Section 203.01, Florida Statutes (1975), on receipts collected from its shopping center tenants for electricity produced by Merritt Square and sold to its tenants....
...shall report semiannually to the Department of Revenue . . . the total amount of gross receipts derived from business done within this state . . . and, at the same time, shall pay into the state treasury the sum of $1.50 upon each $100 of such gross receipts. *144 The catchline of Section 203.01 is misleadingly labeled “Public service corporations, tax upon gross receipts.” Merritt Square is not a “public service corporation” but is rather a private utility....
0 red0 yellow1 green0 procedural
CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1980).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
cogent reasons and unless clearly erroneous. Section
203.01, F. S., reads, in pertinent part, as follows:
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...the imposition of local CSTs for cable companies. §
202.19, Fla. Stat. (2005).
Counties and municipalities may tax cable companies up to 5.1 percent. §
2
Cable and satellite services are also subject to a Gross Receipts Tax, which is
equal for both types of services. §
203.01(2)(b), Fla....
CopyPublished | Supreme Court of Florida | 1986 Fla. LEXIS 2413, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 322
...For the reasons expressed, we reverse the order of the Commission and remand for further proceedings. It is so ordered. MCDONALD, C.J., and EHRLICH and SHAW, JJ., concur. ADKINS, BOYD and BARKETT, JJ., dissent. The change was accomplished by repeal of the credit provision contained in section 203.011, Florida Statutes (Supp.1984) (see § 3, ch. 84-342, Laws of Fla.), and the simultaneous amendment of the definition of gross receipts to exclude revenues from resold services from the local companies’ gross receipts (see § 4, ch. 84-342, Laws of Fla., codified as § 203.01(3)(c)).
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
... Case: 14-14524 Date Filed: 08/26/2015 Page: 4 of 64
Florida also imposes a tax “on gross receipts from utility services that are
delivered to a retail consumer” in Florida (“the Utility Tax”). See Fla. Stat. §
203.01(1)(a)(1) (2012). 3 The statute permits a utility provider, at its discretion, to
separately state this Utility Tax as a line item on the customer’s bill but does not
require it to do so. See id. § 203.01(4)....
...every person for the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services
business, and each provider of the taxable services remains fully and completely
liable for the tax, even if the tax is separately stated as a line item or component of
the total bill.” Id. § 203.01(5).
Similarly, Florida’s administrative regulations specify that even when stated
on the consumer’s bill, the “tax is imposed on the privilege of doing business, and
it is an item of cost to the distribution company,” who...
...uncollected billings when it prepays the tax to the state based on gross billings, as
opposed to actual gross receipts. Fla. Admin. Code R. 12B-6.005(1)(e). A service
provider who fails to remit the tax to the state is also guilty of a misdemeanor. Fla.
Stat. § 203.01(6).
Florida assessed the Rental Tax against the Ark Entities for the period of
July 2005 through June 2008....
...015 Page: 50 of 64
2. The Legal Incidence of Florida’s Utility Tax Falls on the Utility Company
Florida imposes a tax on the “gross receipts from utility services that are
delivered to a retail consumer” in Florida. See Fla. Stat. § 203.01(1)(a)(1) (2012).
In evaluating where the legal incidence of this tax falls, we consider the framework
and language of the statute.
The statute, which is contained in Chapter 203 of the Florida Statutes—a
chapter devoted exclusiv...
...the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services business, and each
provider of the taxable services remains fully and completely liable for the tax,
even if the tax is separately stated as a line item or component of the total bill.” Id.
§ 203.01(5) (emphasis added)....
...50
Case: 14-14524 Date Filed: 08/26/2015 Page: 51 of 64
In determining that the legal incidence of Florida’s Utility Tax fell on the
consumer Tribe, the district court relied on §
203.01(4), Fla. Stat., to conclude that
“[e]very consumer is required to ‘remit the tax’ to the utility company as part of
the total bill.” Seminole Tribe,
49 F. Supp. 3d at 1104. On appeal, the Tribe
similarly invokes §
203.01(4) in an effort to show that the legislature intended to
require the Utility Tax to be passed through to the consumer. But this provision of
the statute applies only when the utility service provider has elected to itemize the
tax separately on its bills—a choice completely left to the discretion of the service
provider. See Fla. Stat. §
203.01(4) (“The tax imposed pursuant to this chapter
relating to the provision of any utility services at the option of the person
supplying the taxable services may be separately stated ....
...us19
here than in Chickasaw Nation.
The district court also put significant weight on a provision of the statute
concerning an exemption regarding certain natural-gas customers. Seminole Tribe,
49 F. Supp. 3d at 1104-05 (citing Fla. Stat. §
203.01(3)(d)). That provision states
that the Utility Tax does not apply to natural-gas sales to a limited class of
industrial customers that use the gas as an energy source or a raw material. Fla.
Stat. §
203.01(3)(d) (cross-referencing Fla....
...Compare Fla. Stat. §
212.05 (“It is
hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable
privilege who engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail
in this state . . . .”) with Fla. Stat. §
203.01(5) (2012) (“The tax is imposed upon
every person for the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services
business ....
...See
Chickasaw Nation,
515 U.S. at 460,
115 S. Ct. at 2221.
Finally, we observe that Florida also levies a sales tax on electricity, the
legal incidence of which falls on the purchaser of electricity. Fla. Stat. §
212.05(1)(e)(1)(c); see Fla. Stat. §
203.01(1)(a)(3); id....
...not apply its tax
60
Case: 14-14524 Date Filed: 08/26/2015 Page: 61 of 64
to sales of natural gas or electricity from one utility service provider to another.
See Fla. Stat. § 203.01(3)(a)(1), (2); Fla....
