Netflix confirmed that it has notified its customers in Florida that it will begin on Feb. 15 adding to their monthly bills "the state tax rate" for streaming services, which is 5.07% of their regular fees.
"We’ve notified our members in Florida that they will start to see state services tax applied to their monthly bill beginning February 15. Netflix subscriptions in Florida are subject to both local and state tax as part of the Florida Communications Services Tax," reads a statement provided to us by Netflix.
Netflix referred Next TV to this page from the Florida Department of Revenue, which outlines fees charged by the state of Florida for pay TV and home internet service, landline and mobile phones, and video and music streaming.
"The total tax rate for the Florida communications services tax is 7.44%. The state tax rate is 4.92%. The total rate for the gross receipts tax is 2.52%, comprised of a .15% rate and a 2.37% rate," Department of Revenue guidelines read. "Dealers may bill and collect the 4.92% state tax rate along with the .15% gross receipts tax rate (a total of 5.07%) as 'state tax' provided the amounts are properly reflected on the tax return."
According to a source familiar with Netflix's Florida operations, the streaming company already bills users in Florida for local taxes and fees.
According to an August report from the website Accurate Tax. Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington are currently the only states that charge taxes on streaming services. But lawmakers in states including Missouri are currently fighting it out as to whether to impose similar taxes on their citizenry.
Meanwhile, Netflix outlines its policies in regard to state and local taxes on this page.
The Florida state comms taxes aren't new. As this Reddit thread confirms, Hulu has been passing them on to subscribers state in Florida since at least 2017.
Why is Netflix passing them on only now? The streaming company wouldn't tell us that.
Based on state mandates, it doesn't appear as though Netflix has been subsidizing the taxes up until now.
The Florida Department of Revenue stipulates, that "The Florida communications services tax must be separately itemized on the customer billing. Dealers must add the Florida communications services tax to the price of the communications services sold. Dealers may not absorb or relieve the customer of all or any part of the Florida communications services tax."
Of course, Netflix's Florida customers aren't pleased, especially following a November price increase that eliminated the cheapest ad-free Netflix tier, while upping the monthly price of the only 4K plan, "Premium," to an industry-leading $23 a month.
"Time to change the billing address on my account," wrote one Florida subscriber on Reddit.
