Monthly Closing Deadlines

The September 2025 period in the general ledger has closed.  The current and future month-end processing deadline schedules are located at Monthly Closing Deadlines.

Florida Sales Tax Rate for Rental, Lease, or License to Use Real Property Repealed Effective October 1, 2025 

Currently, Florida imposes a 6% sales tax on the sales of most goods and certain services. In addition, Florida counties can impose a local option surtax on top of the 6% rate that varies by county. Therefore, the sales tax rate is 7% in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Pinellas County (due to the additional 1% surtax).

The sales tax is also imposed on commercial leases and licenses to use real property, but at a reduced rate. Some examples of real property rentals that are subject to tax include (commercial office or retail space, conference rooms, ballrooms, stadiums, arenas, etc.). The sales tax rate imposed under Florida Statutes on the rent charged for renting, leasing, or granting a license to use real property is currently 3.0% (2.0% plus the additional 1% surtax).

Effective October 1, 2025, the sales tax rate imposed under Florida Statutes on the rent charged for renting, leasing, or granting a license to use real property is repealed. Therefore, the combined sales tax rate for any rental activity taking place on or after October 1, 2025, will be 0.0%.

However, if services are provided along with the rental activity, the services are still subject to the 7.0% sales tax rate and are not repealed.

To accurately collect and remit the sales tax collected by the University, rental-related sales tax collections should only be posted to one of the following general ledger accounts shown below.

• Account number 311318 (Sales Tax Liab MD Prop Rental) – this account is used to record/deposit sales tax for rental activity taking place in Miami-Dade County, which is subject to the current 3.0% sales tax rate (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025).Effective for rental activity on or after October 1, 2025, the sales tax is eliminated and the rate is 0.0%.
• Account number 311319 (Sales Tax Liab Bwd Prop Rental) – this account is used to record/deposit sales tax for rental activity taking place in Broward County, which is subject to the current 3.0% sales tax rate (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025). Effective for rental activity on or after October 1, 2025, the sales tax is eliminated and the rate is 0.0%.
• Account number 311320 (Sales Tax Liab PIN Prop Rental) – this account is used to record/deposit sales tax for rental activity taking place in Pinellas County, which is subject to the current 3.0% sales tax rate (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025). Effective for rental activity on or after October 1, 2025, the sales tax is eliminated and the rate is 0.0%.

However, this reduction does not change the sales tax rate for all other taxable sales. All other sales tax activity (not rental-related) should be posted to one of the following general ledger accounts.

• Account number 311315 (Sales Tax Liab MD NOT Rental) – this account is used to record/deposit sales tax for goods or services being sold in Miami-Dade County which are subject to the 7.0% sales tax rate.
• Account number 311317 (Sales Tax Liab BWD NOT Rental) – this account is used to record/deposit sales tax for goods or services being sold in Broward County which are subject to the 7.0% sales tax rate.

Please continue to use Department Number 110401000 and Activity Number 1104120007 for all sales tax deposits regardless of the general ledger account used.

If you have questions about this change or any other sales tax questions, please email Tax Compliance Services or call any of the Tax Compliance team members. You can also click this link to Florida Tax Information Publication (TIP) No. 25A01-04, which contains additional information related to the sales tax rate change.

Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) – IRS Form 990-T

Florida International University is required by Federal law to prepare an income tax return for net income from activities unrelated to the exempt mission of the University. This tax return (Form 990-T) must be filed annually with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The IRS has provided the following criteria to identify activities that are unrelated to the mission of an exempt organization. An activity is an unrelated business (and subject to unrelated business income tax “UBIT”) if it meets three requirements: (1) It is a “trade or business”; (2) It is “regularly carried on”; and (3) It is “not substantially related” to furthering FIU’s exempt purpose.  Since these terms are given a specific meaning within the rules set forth by the IRS and several important exceptions exist, guidelines for these criteria are available from the Tax Compliance office for your review.

The Tax Compliance office has begun gathering the data for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, and cannot identify all activities that are unrelated and subject to Federal income tax from the accounting records alone. Therefore, we are asking that all Departments review their operations for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and determine what activities, if any, are potentially unrelated business income. Please keep in mind that Florida International University must account for and report all unrelated business income pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.

Please note that due to recent changes in the tax law, departments that conduct multiple unrelated activities (rentals, advertising income, admission fee income, etc.) must complete a separate UBIT questionnaire and UBIT income statement for each activity. Do not combine multiple activities into a single questionnaire and income statement.

A reminder email has been sent to those Department Heads & Finance Managers with UBIT activity in prior years, with links to the UBIT questionnaire and additional UBIT information. If you did not receive the email and have UBI to report or want additional guidance, the information is also available on the Controller’s website at the following link: https://controller.fiu.edu/departments/accounting-reporting/tax-compliance-payroll/unrelated/ 

If your department does not generate Unrelated Business Income (UBI) and only conducts educational activities, you do not need to return the UBI Questionnaire. If you have questions about unrelated business income or are conducting a revenue generating activity, and are unsure if reporting is required, please contact tax@fiu.edu or call (305) 348-2655 for more information.

Invoices Delivery

When submitting invoices to invoices@fiu.edu, please keep the following in mind:

• Limit the supporting documentation to only what is necessary to approve the invoice for payment.  Any other documentation should be kept with the department.
• Only PDF documents are accepted.  All other documents will not be processed.
• Only one invoice per PDF file is accepted.  If more than one invoice is sent in one PDF file, only the first invoice is processed.
• Any supporting documentation required must be included in the PDF file.  The system cannot combine attachments.
• Market Place Orders – Do not send invoice copies, receipt information, or any other documentation to invoices@fiu.edu.  Market Place invoices (any voucher that begins with the letter I) are sent to Accounts Payable electronically by the vendor.
• When corresponding with an AP staff member, do not cc invoices@fiu.edu.

invoices@fiu.edu is system-monitored and should only be used for invoice submissions.

Travel Manual and Website Updates

We have updated our Travel Manual and Travel Website and created various forms to help you reconcile travel expenses.

Travel News – Important Reminders

•  Employee Signature Requirement

Expense reports must be signed by the employee listed at the top of the report. This can be done via DocuSign or using the Print and Sign option.

•  Receipt & Documentation Requirements

Ensure all receipts and supporting documentation are legible and uploaded prior to submission to avoid reimbursement delays. Departments are strongly encouraged to use the [Travel Reimbursement Checklist] to verify that all required documentation is included.

•  Combine Files into One PDF

All documentation should be scanned and uploaded as a single PDF file rather than as individual pages.

•  Ride Receipt Annotations

For Taxi, Uber, Lyft, or shuttle services, the pickup and drop-off locations must be clearly noted on the receipt (e.g., “home to airport”, “airport to hotel”).

•  P-Card or PO Usage Notations

If expenses were paid using a university credit card or purchase order, this must be clearly annotated on the corresponding receipts prior to submission.

•  Use of FIU Procurement Systems

To ensure compliance and efficiency, the University’s procurement system must be fully utilized for all operational needs, including travel, equipment, supplies, rentals, food, and furnishings. Departments should coordinate with Purchasing Services and Credit Card Solutions as needed.

Requirements for Athletics

All expense reports related to Recruiting and Professional Development must include a Per Diem Form to support per diem or actual meal claims. This form is required and must be attached as part of the supporting documentation of the expense report.

To streamline compliance, FIU has developed the following template:

• Per Diem Reimbursement Template

This template is mandatory to ensure compliance with the FIU Travel Policy and to facilitate accurate and timely reimbursement.

Important International Travel Compliance Reminder

Effective March 1, 2025, if you depart on an international trip prior to full Travel Authorization (TA) approval, a confirmation of which is emailed to you, there will be no reimbursement of travel expenses paid by you from personal funds, and repayment from the traveler to the University for expenses paid with University funds will be required. Further, an employee may be subject to discipline and/or restrictions on international travel privileges. Regardless of whether a proxy assists in the TA process, the traveler is responsible for verifying that the TA is fully approved before departing on the trip and will be held accountable if it is not.

Please reference the full memorandum, which also includes details from previous notifications.

Travel Authorization

An approved Travel Authorization (TA) is a traveler’s permission to incur expenses and travel on behalf of Florida International University. Without an approved travel authorization (TA), the payment of travel expenses on behalf of the University, using the procurement card, or by the traveler is prohibited. This includes FIU employees, FIU students, and others who travel on the University’s behalf. The Authorization must include all known or projected travel expenses, a descriptive business purpose, and the correct trip start and end dates, as well as the business destination(s). It must also provide an estimated trip cost.

Requirement for Domestic and Foreign Travel

All expense reports must include a Meal Reimbursement Breakdown Template to support per diem or actual meal claims. This template is required and must be attached to the supporting documentation of the expense report.

To streamline compliance, FIU has developed two distinct templates:

• Domestic Meal Reimbursement Template
• Foreign Meal Reimbursement Template

Travelers are required to use the appropriate template based on their travel destination and include the completed form in the expense report documentation.

This template is mandatory to ensure compliance with the FIU Travel Policy and to facilitate accurate and timely reimbursement.

Master the Social Media Playbook

Join us to discover how your department can leverage social media as a tool for storytelling, engagement, and growth.

This FREE session is open to all and is presented by the Office of Auxiliary & Enterprise Development and ROAR Media.

Please address any questions to auxiliaries@fiu.edu.