Running a food truck in Florida

What this site covers, and where to start

Florida licenses a food truck once, at the state level. Almost everything else on this site follows from that.

The state calls a food truck a mobile food dispensing vehicle. The Division of Hotels and Restaurants issues the license. Counties and cities cannot charge you a second license for the same truck, but they still decide where you may park and serve.

Start with what the state license actually is if you are still deciding. If you have decided, go to the licensing sequence. It puts every step in the order the state expects.

The license, the fee, and the people on board

The license is issued per vehicle and renewed every year. The fee is set in a published rule, so there is no guessing.

The same rule adds a one-time application fee for a new truck. The fee breakdown walks through each line and what a late renewal adds.

Staff rules sit beside the license. Every truck needs a certified food protection manager on its paperwork. Everyone handling food needs approved training within weeks of starting. See food safety certification for the deadlines.

The truck itself, and the kitchen behind it

Most trucks cannot run alone. Unless yours is self-sufficient, it needs a commissary it returns to every day it operates.

That relationship is on file with the state before you open. Setting up a commissary covers the form and what the kitchen has to offer. Fire safety and propane covers the local fire official's side, which is separate from the food license. Insurance requirements covers what the state requires of the vehicle and of you as an employer.

The business that owns the truck

The license application asks for a federal EIN and a sales tax number. So the business has to exist first.

Read the setup sequence for the order of filings. Read the entity comparison for the choice between staying a sole proprietor and forming an LLC or corporation. The formation-services comparison lists what each filing service publishes about its prices, next to the file-it-yourself route at the state fee.

Selling on the road, and the yearly calendar

Once you open, two things vary by where you park. One is local operating rules. The other is the county sales surtax.

Where you can operate explains what a county can still control after state preemption. Sales tax on food truck sales explains how to charge and report it by county.

Then the calendar takes over. Renewal and inspections covers the license date set by your county's district. The annual report and income tax covers what the entity owes each spring.

Before you open

• Florida mobile food dispensing vehicle license — What the Florida mobile food dispensing vehicle license is, who issues it, which agency covers packaged-only trucks, and why counties cannot add their own.
• How to get a food truck licensed in Florida — The order to license a Florida food truck: business and tax numbers, commissary, plan review, application, fee, opening inspection and decal.
• What a Florida food truck license costs — The Florida mobile food vehicle license fee line by line: $347 a year, the $50 application fee, the half-year rate and the $50 late charge.
• Food safety certification for Florida food trucks — Florida's food manager and food handler rules for trucks: who needs which certificate, the 30- and 60-day deadlines, and the four-employee rule.

Forming the business

• Setting up a food truck business in Florida — The order to form a Florida food truck business: entity, name, Sunbiz filing, EIN, bank account, sales tax, payroll accounts, then the state license.
• LLC, corporation or sole proprietor for a food truck — How a Florida food truck owner chooses between a sole proprietorship, an LLC and a corporation: liability, state fees, federal tax and Florida income tax.
• Formation services for Florida food trucks compared — LLC formation services for Florida food trucks: each one's own published prices, how it handles the registered agent, and the $125 file-it-yourself route.

Fitting out the truck

• Setting up a commissary for a Florida food truck — How a Florida food truck lines up a commissary: what the kitchen must provide, the daily return rule, form HR-7022, and what self-sufficient trucks skip.
• Fire safety and propane rules for Florida food trucks — Who checks fire safety on a Florida food truck, which fire code applies, why the food license does not cover it, and the rule now in progress.
• Insurance requirements for Florida food trucks — What Florida requires a food truck to insure: PIP and property damage on the vehicle, and workers' compensation once you have four employees.

On the road

• Where a food truck can operate in Florida — What Florida's food truck preemption stops counties and cities doing, what local rules still apply, and the exceptions for ports, airports and seaports.
• Sales tax on food truck sales in Florida — How Florida sales tax applies to a food truck: the 6% rate, the county surtax where you park, tax-included pricing, tips and return due dates.

Every year after

• Renewing a Florida food truck license — When a Florida food truck license renews by county district, what a late renewal costs, how routine inspections work, and what to keep on the truck.
• Florida annual report and taxes for a food truck — The yearly filings a Florida food truck business owes: the Sunbiz annual report and its $400 late fee, income and self-employment tax.

Questions