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

Recalculating Class Size Keeps Classrooms Small, Allows for Investment in Students and Teachers

/ Categories: Op-Eds

A nonpartisan report from Florida TaxWatch analyzes the opportunities to reform the state’s class size restrictions to better educate Florida students.  The solution would reduce class size compliance costs and increase the investment in other, proven tools to increase student achievement. TaxWatch recommends that the state uniformly employ a class size calculation that is discriminately used for only some public schools, which would result in a multi-billion dollar savings for Florida taxpayers. By adjusting the calculation of class sizes to a school level average, schools would be able to keep classes small without handcuffing principals and administrators who are tasked with creating a positive learning environment for all students. 

 

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