What about records maintained outside Sarasota County? According to Florida Law, all records must be made available for review by the tax collector and available for audit by the Clerk of Circuit Court.  For an informal review by the Tax Collector, a reasonable period of time will be given to allow the records to be returned to Sarasota.  For a formal audit, the Clerk of Court follows Florida Law for providing the required statutory notice of audit. How long do I have to keep the records? Since you may be audited for 5 years after the rental has occurred, you should keep all records for at least 5 years. Are my tax records confidential? According to Florida Law, all tourist records are confidential - including the registration form, all tax returns that have been filed, audit documentation and any tourist tax record that may identify the rental property or it's owner.  In fact, we would be unable to share any information with the owner unless we can positively identify that it is the owner.  If the owner has an accountant that handles financial information, we will require written authorization from the owner before discussing any information with the accountant.  If the property is managed by a property management company, our confidentiality extends to the property manager.  Because management companies usually file as a consolidated account and the rental amounts and taxes are reported in the aggregate, we would be unable to verify to any particular property owner their rental activity or compliance. However, the Tax Collector is required to share all tax information with the Clerk of Circuit Court (who is responsible for local auditing) and the Department of Revenue (who is responsible for state auditing).