The Florida alcohol and tobacco tax bond is required by the FL DBPR to ensure timely payment of taxes. The required bond is available from AmeriPro Surety Bonds: 844-589-9732.
Florida state Statutes, particularly 561.37, requires the Florida alcohol and tobacco tax bond for those who are engaged in either of these professions.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR) oversees alcohol and tobacco distribution.
To be in compliance with the law, you will want to maintain the amount of bond required.
The purpose of the Florida alcohol and tobacco tax bond is to act as a financial guarantee that all taxes owed will be paid to the state as required.
The bond’s existence allows the state the ability to “file against” the bond to collect taxes up to the bond amount.
As such, the bond is financial protection for the state of Florida, not the alcohol or tobacco distributor or manufacturer.
With a surety bond, unlike insurance, should any amounts be paid on the bond, the bond’s purchaser is required to fully indemnify the surety for all costs involved in the payment, in addition to the amounts paid.
The amount of surety bond required will depend the type of business enterprise in which you are engaged.
For manufacturers and distributors, a $25,000 surety bond is required, unless the licensing authority concludes that a bond amount of less than $25,000 would be enough to secure payment of all taxes.
In such cases, the bond may be no lower than $10,000; and, at the discretion of the state, can be raised at any time, but no higher than the $25,000 cap.
For brewers, a $20,000 surety bond is required, unless the licensing authority is convinced that a surety bond amount of less than $20,000 would be enough to cover payment of all taxes.
In such cases, the bond may no lower than $10,000; and, at the state’s discretion, the bond can be raised at any time, but no higher than the $20,000 cap.
For wine and cordial manufacturers, the bond amount required is $5,000, unless the licensing authority is convinced that a bond of $1,000 would be enough to cover all payment of taxes.
In this case, the bond amount is has a floor of $1,000; and at the state’s discretion, the bond can be raised to the $5,000 cap.
For distributors who sale beverages with alcohol content of 17.259 percent, the bond amount required is $25,000, unless the licensing authority is convinced that a $1,000 surety bond would be enough to cover payment of all taxes.
The $1,000 surety bond represents the floor, and at its discretion, the licensing authority may raise the bond up to a cap of no more than $25,000.
With the exception of cases where new bond requirements are made by the Department at their discretion, this surety bond renews on an annual basis, one year from the date of purchase.
AmeriPro Surety Bonds is a surety bonds-only company providing license and permit, fiduciary, and court bonds throughout Florida.
We also offer surety bonds nationwide.