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

Blog: Florida's Property Insurance Market
/ Categories: Research, Insurance, Blog

Blog: Florida's Property Insurance Market

The primary focus of May’s special session was property insurance reform to stabilize Florida’s property insurance market in advance of hurricane season. Although some provisions were passed, efforts to reduce premiums and to disincentivize mass amounts of lawsuits were minimal.

 

Legislators are confident that Florida’s insurance market will become significantly more competitive following December’s Special Session. Florida House Speaker Paul Renner stated that the legislation will not only create more competition in the insurance market for Florida but will also provide notable measures that reduce frivolous lawsuits while holding insurers accountable to consumers.

 

Unfortunately, some measures will take time to demonstrate notable change, particularly for homeowners. Some worry that December’s session prioritized the competition of insurance companies rather than guaranteeing financial relief for homeowners. Mark Friedlander notes that “it will take time to see positive impacts of the legislative reform. We expect home insurance rates in Florida to remain high in 2023 due to expenses associated with ongoing litigation, combined with soaring reinsurance rates and double-digit replacement cost increases driven by escalating prices of construction materials and labor.”

 

After the measures taken in recent sessions, there is hope for Florida’s property insurance crisis. Legislators have taken action to protect companies and policyholders from financial strength rating downgrades and reduce fraudulent claims and scams within the state. The question is how long it will take for homeowners to see relief and if the measures taken are enough to save a market in crisis.

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