1213.255 Interest.—Interest shall be paid on overpayments of taxes, payment of taxes not due, or taxes paid in error, subject to the following conditions:
2(1) A refund application must be filed with the department within the time specified by s. 215.26.
2(2) A refund application is complete if it is filed on a permitted form and contains:
(a) The taxpayer’s name, address, identifying number, and signature.
(b) Sufficient information, whether on the application or attachments, to permit mathematical verification of the amount of the refund.
(c) The amount claimed.
(d) The specific grounds upon which the refund is claimed.
(e) The taxable years or periods involved.
2(3) Within 30 days after receipt of the refund application, the department shall examine the application and notify the applicant of any apparent errors or omissions and request any additional information the department is permitted by law to require. However, if the department does not notify an applicant of any errors or omissions or request additional information within 30 days after receiving the application, interest must be calculated pursuant to subsection (4). If the department does not receive the requested information or, after receiving additional information, determines that the application does not contain sufficient information to evaluate the claim, the department may deny the application.
2(4) If the amount of overpayment has not been refunded to the taxpayer or applied as a credit to the taxpayer’s account, interest shall begin to accrue on the 91st day following the postmark date of the refund application or, if submitted electronically, the 91st day following the electronic submission of the refund application. If a refund application is sent by mail and is delivered to the department with no postmark date, interest shall begin to accrue on the 91st day following receipt by the department. However, if there is a prohibition against refunding a tax overpayment before the first day of the state fiscal year, interest on the tax overpayment may not commence until August 1 of the year the tax was due. If the department and the taxpayer mutually agree that an audit or verification is necessary in order to determine the taxpayer’s entitlement to the refund, interest may not commence until the audit or verification of the claim is final.
2(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4), if an applicant challenges a denial of refund, and during any informal review or administrative or judicial proceeding provides additional information to substantiate the refund claim, interest shall begin to accrue on the 91st day following the day the additional information was provided.
2(6) If a tax is adjudicated unconstitutional and refunds are ordered by the court, interest may not commence on complete applications until 90 days after the adjudication becomes final and unappealable or 90 days after a refund application has been filed, whichever is later.
2(7) Interest shall be paid until a date determined by the department which shall be no more than 7 days prior to the date of the issuance of the refund warrant by the Chief Financial Officer.
2(8) If the department intends to pay a refund claim prior to completion of an audit, the department may condition its payment of the refund claim upon the person filing a cash bond or surety bond in the amount of the refund claimed or making such other security arrangements satisfactory to protect the state’s interests. The department may impose this condition only when it has reasonable cause to believe that it could not recover the amount of any refund paid in error from the person claiming the refund. The cash or surety bond shall be endorsed by a surety company authorized to do business in this state and shall be conditioned upon payment in full of the amount of any refund paid in error for any reason. The department shall provide a written notice of its determination that a cash or surety bond is required as a condition of payment prior to audit, in which event interest shall not commence until the person filing the claim satisfies this requirement. Such bond shall remain in place while the department retains a right pursuant to s. 95.091(3) to audit the refund claim. Upon completion of an audit of the claim, the department shall agree to a reduction in the bond amount equal to the portion of the refund claim approved by the department.
2(9) Nothing in this section is intended to alter the department’s right to audit or verify refund claims either before or after they are paid.
2(10) In the event that the department pays a refund claim that is later determined to have been paid in error, the person to whom the refund was paid shall be assessed interest on the amount of the erroneous refund payment, commencing with the date of the erroneous payment and continuing until the erroneous payment amount is repaid to the department. If the department determines that the erroneous refund claim was not due to reasonable cause, there shall be added a penalty in the amount of 10 percent of the erroneously refunded tax. If the department determines that the erroneous refund claim was due to fraud, there shall be added a penalty in the amount of 100 percent of the erroneously refunded tax.
2(11) The department is authorized to adopt such rules, not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, as are necessary for the implementation of this section including, but not limited to, rules establishing the information necessary for a complete refund application, the procedures for denying an incomplete application, and the standards and guidelines to be applied in determining when to require a bond under the provisions of subsection (8). All notices issued by the department regarding the approval or denial of a refund claim shall, if applicable, state the amount of interest to be paid on the refund and the date upon which the accrual of such interest began.
(12) The rate of interest shall be the adjusted rate established pursuant to s. 213.235, except that the annual rate of interest shall never be greater than 11 percent. This annual rate of interest shall be applied to all refunds of taxes administered by the department except for corporate income taxes governed by ss. 220.721 and 220.723.
History.—s. 9, ch. 99-239; s. 35, ch. 2002-218; s. 191, ch. 2003-261; s. 21, ch. 2011-76; s. 29, ch. 2026-239.
1Note.—Section 29, ch. 2026-239, purported to amend s. 213.255, but did not publish subsection (12). Absent affirmative evidence of legislative intent to repeal subsection (12), it is published here pending clarification by the Legislature.
2Note.—Section 30, ch. 2026-239, provides that “[t]he amendments made by this act to s. 213.255, Florida Statutes, first apply to refund claims filed on or after January 1, 2027.”
