9 Actions Florida Should Take to Help Taxpayers Impacted by Hurricane Ian

1.     Postpone tax notices and waive penalties or interest for late tax filings in affected areas

2.     Extend the date for residents to take advantage of the tax discounts they would normally receive for paying property taxes and special assessments in November and postpone or defer the deadline for property tax installment payments

3.     Protect individual and business taxpayers from the risks for notices that they will likely not receive because their home or business addresses is not accessible anymore

4.     Issue no new audits in severely impacted areas, extend the statute of limitations and postpone existing audits that haven’t reached the assessment stage because these can’t be responded to while entire communities are still recovering

5.     Create procedures for fairly estimating taxes which can’t be calculated because records have been destroyed by the storm, moving away from the current method which significantly overestimates activity if no records are available

6.     Initiate procedures to offer payment plan assistance for late taxes, rather than resorting to the standard collection methods, like liens, levies, or bank freezes

7.     Retroactively apply the recently passed law that provides property tax refunds for residential property rendered uninhabitable as a result of a catastrophic event

8.     Provide tangible personal property relief and allow n on-residential properties rendered uninhabitable to receive property tax refunds

9.     Get Congress to pass a Disaster Tax Relief Act that includes provisions from past packages, including elements such as an Employee Retention Credit, an enhanced casualty loss deduction, and other relief provisions

Other Resources

Florida TaxWatch Statement on Hurricane Ian Recovery

Community Involvement

/ Categories: Research, Voter Guides

2020 Florida Taxpayers Voter Guide

To the 2020 Constitutional Amendments

SEE THE FULL VOTER GUIDE ONLINE

 

On November 3, 2020, Floridians will vote on six proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution. This Florida TaxWatch Voter Guide is designed to provide Florida voters with information about each of the amendments to help them cast well-informed votes.

Proposed constitutional amendments numbers 1 through 4, which deal with citizenship requirements to vote, minimum wage, voting in primary elections, and voter approval of constitutional amendments, respectively, have been placed on the November ballot by citizens’ initiatives. Proposed constitutional amendments numbers 5 and 6, which deal with the transfer of homestead property tax discounts and the transfer of Save Our Homes portability, respectively, have been placed on the November ballot by joint resolutions of the Florida Legislature.

For each proposed amendment, this Voter Guide provides the following information:

  • The title of the proposed amendment as it will appear on the November 3, 2020 ballot;
  • How the proposed amendment came to be placed on the November 3, 2020 ballot;
  • The specific section or sections of the Constitution that are being amended;
  • A summary the proposed amendment, including the practical effects of a “yes” or “no” vote;
  • A summary of the arguments for and against the proposed amendment;
  • A detailed and thorough analysis of the proposed amendment;
  • The fiscal impact of the proposed amendment;
  • Florida TaxWatch’s conclusion, based upon the analysis and fiscal impacts of the proposed amendment;
  • A recommendation by Florida TaxWatch; and
  • In the back of the report, the full text of the proposed amendment.

Documents to download

Print
4530 Rate this article:
No rating

x