Did a Florida contractor have to charge sales tax for cleaning and repairing commercial kitchen exhaust hoods?

Plain-English summary

The Florida Department of Revenue concluded that charges for cleaning and repairing nonresidential kitchen exhaust hood systems were not subject to sales tax.

Florida taxed nonresidential cleaning services classified under NAICS 561720. The Department found no specific taxable classification for hood cleaning and viewed it as similar to duct and ventilation-duct cleaning under NAICS 561790, which was not listed as taxable under Florida law.

Repairs, maintenance, or modifications to the hood were also not taxable to the customer because the hood was treated as real property. The contractor was the ultimate consumer and had to pay sales and use tax on taxable materials, supplies, parts, and other items used in the repair.

What this means for you

Commercial hood-cleaning businesses

Under the ruling's facts, do not charge the customer sales tax on the hood-cleaning service. Separate activities outside the described exhaust system could require a different analysis.

Real-property contractors

Not charging tax to the customer does not make the inputs exempt. The contractor must pay tax on taxable repair materials and supplies.

Common questions

Q: Were exhaust hood cleaning charges taxable?
A: No.

Q: Were repairs performed during the cleaning taxable to the customer?
A: No. They were treated as real-property improvements, with the contractor owing tax on taxable inputs.

Citations and references

• Fla. Stat. §§ 212.05(1)(i) and 213.22
• Fla. Admin. Code rr. 12A-1.0091 and 12A-1.051
• NAICS 561720 and 561790

Source

• Landing page: Florida Tax Law Library
• Advisement: TAA 14A-020

Original ruling text

Executive Director
Marshall Stranburg

QUESTION: WHETHER TAXPAYER IS REQUIRED TO CHARGE SALES TAX TO ITS
CUSTOMERS FOR HOOD CLEANING SERVICES.
ANSWER: THE CHARGE FOR HOOD CLEANING SERVICES IS NOT SUBJECT TO TAX.
September 5, 2014
RE:

Technical Assistance Advisement 14A-020
Sales and Use Tax
Taxability of Hood Cleaning Services
Section: 212.05(l)(i)l.a., Florida Statutes (F.S.)
Rules: 12A-1.0091 and 12A-1.051, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.)
XXX (herein “Taxpayer”)
XXX

Dear XXX:
This letter is in response to your request dated March 12, 2014, for issuance of a Technical Assistance
Advisement (“TAA”) pursuant to Section 213.22, F.S., and Rule Chapter 12-11, F.A.C., concerning the
taxability of exhaust hood cleaning services. An examination of your request has established you
complied with the statutory and regulatory requirements for issuance of a TAA. Therefore, the
Department is hereby granting your request for a TAA.
Facts
Taxpayer is in the business of cleaning and repairing nonresidential kitchen hood exhaust systems. This
procedure includes cleaning the exhaust fan, grease hood filters, the hood, and associated duct work.
There are no other areas cleaned or any other type of cleaning activity performed under the agreement
between Taxpayer and its customer. When needed, Taxpayer will also make repairs or modifications to
the hood system during a cleaning service.
Taxpayer’s cleaning, repair and modification of an exhaust hood system is in compliance with the
specifications of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 96 code. This is a standard
that is developed for proper ventilation control and fire protection in commercial cooking environments.
Requested Advisement
Whether Taxpayer is required to charge sales tax to its customers for hood cleaning services.

Technical Assistance Advisement
Page 2

Applicable Law and Discussion
Section 212.05(1)(i), F.S., and Rule 12A-1.0091(l)(a), F.A.C, provide that nonresidential cleaning
services are subject to sales tax. Nonresidential cleaning services are those services (not involving
repair) rendered to maintain the clean and sanitary appearance and operating condition of a
nonresidential building. Repairs made to real property are not covered under cleaning services.
They are addressed in Rule 12A-1.051, F.A.C.
The exact language in s. 212.05(l)(i), F.S., that imposes sales tax on nonresidential cleaning services, is
as follows:
It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable privilege
who . . . furnishes any of the things or services taxable under this chapter . . ..
(1) For the exercise of such privilege, a tax is levied on each taxable transaction or
incident, which tax is due and payable as follows:

(i)1 . At the rate of 6 percent on charges for all:

b. Nonresidential cleaning . . . and nonresidential pest control services (NAICS National
Numbers 561710 and 561720).

2. As used in this paragraph, "NAICS" means those classifications contained in the North
   American Industry Classification System, as published in 2007 by the Office of Management
   and Budget, Executive Office of the President.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by federal statistical
agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing
statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. Nonresidential cleaning services that are subject to
tax are classified under NAICS Number 561720. See also Rule 12A-1.0091, F.A.C.
Under current law, the imposition of tax on certain services is now based on the NAICS codes. The use of
NAICS codes resulted from the 2009 Legislature’s enactment of Chapter 2009-51, Laws of Florida, which
became effective on July 1, 2009. This enactment changed the imposition of tax, previously based on
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 1, to be based on the “NAICS” numbers. Impacted by this
law change was the tax treatment of nonresidential exhaust hood cleaning services.
Prior to the 2009 law change, Industry Group No. 734, classified as “Services to Dwellings and Other
Buildings,” was deemed to contain services taxable under Chapter 212, F.S. Section 212.05(1)(i)2.,
F.S., previously stated that it was the intention of the Legislature to tax services of a type listed in SIC
Industry Group No. 734. Within SIC Group No. 734 was chimney cleaning services.
Prior to revision of administrative Rule 12A-1.0091(1)(a), F.A.C, in January 2011, it was stated that
chimney cleaning services were taxable as a nonresidential cleaning services. Hood cleaning services
were not mentioned in the rule nor was there a specific classification within the SIC codes for this type
1

SIC codes were previously the statistical classification standard underlying all establishment-based Federal
economic statistics classified by industry, and the 1987 edition of the “Standard Industrial Classification Manual”
was the prescribed Industry Group Classification source to determine whether certain services were taxable.

Technical Assistance Advisement
Page 3

of service. However, based on the Department’s research of the SIC codes, prior Department rulings
held that hood cleaning services were considered akin to chimney cleaning services; thus, it was
determined that hood cleaning services were also subject to sales tax under s. 212.05(1)(i)2., F.S.
Under rule promulgation, “chimney cleaning services” was removed from the list of taxable services in
the rule. Such services were no longer included in the list of taxable services under the 2009 law
enacting the use of NAICS codes; specifically NAICS Number 561720 applicable to nonresidential
cleaning services. With revision of the rule, the Department reviewed the appropriate NAICS codes,
and did not find a specific classification for "hood cleaning." The Department did find NAICS code
561790, for "duct cleaning services" and "ventilation duct cleaning services," which are categorized as
"Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings." These services are similar to hood cleaning services.
Since NAICS code 561790 is not listed as a taxable code under Florida law, it is now determined that
exhaust hood cleaning services should also be interpreted as not being subject to sales tax.
Further, if an exhaust hood requires any type of repair, inclusive of maintenance or modification, the
repair is also not subject to tax. The exhaust hood is considered real property and repairs to real
property are not subject to tax. Therefore, any repairs made to the hood during cleaning will be treated
as a real property improvement. Under Rule 12A-1.051, F.A.C., the real property contractor is the
ultimate consumer of repairs made to real property. Therefore, the real property contractor is required to
pay sales and use tax on its purchases of materials, supplies, parts, and any other taxable items used in
the repair. The contractor should not charge the customer sales tax.
Conclusion
Taxpayer’s charges to customers for cleaning and repairing nonresidential kitchen exhaust hood systems
are not subject to sales tax.
This response constitutes a Technical Assistance Advisement under Section 213.22, F.S., which is
binding on the Department only under the facts and circumstances described in the request for this
advice, as specified in Section 213.22, F.S. Our response is predicated on those facts and the specific
situation summarized above. You are advised that subsequent statutory or administrative rule changes
or judicial interpretations of the statutes or rules upon which this advice is based may subject similar
future transactions to a different treatment than expressed in this response.
You are further advised that this response, your request and related backup documents are public records
under Chapter 119, F.S., and are subject to disclosure to the public under the conditions of Section
213.22, F.S. Confidential information must be deleted before public disclosure. In an effort to protect
confidentiality, we request you provide the undersigned with an edited copy of your request for
Technical Assistance Advisement, the backup material and this response, deleting names, addresses and
any other details which might lead to identification of the Taxpayer. Your response should be received
by the Department within 15 days of the date of this letter.
Sincerely,
Joseph D. Franklin III
Tax Law Specialist
Technical Assistance and Dispute Resolution
(850) 617-8346
JDF3/
Control #: 164595