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: Blog

Help Along the Road to Independence

Passing your driving test and receiving your first driver's license is a right of passage for most teenagers in the United States.  Learning to navigate streets and drive safely is a normal step toward independence, opening doors for additional employment and educational opportunities.  

However, for teenagers in foster care, a driver's license can be difficult to come by, and the cost of driver education and insurance may be prohibitive.   

In 2013, only about 3 percent of 16 and 17-year old foster children had driver's licenses.  Beginning in 2014, Florida approved a pilot program aimed at increasing the number of teens in foster care obtaining a driver's license.  This program, which was run by Community Based Care of Central Florida (CBCFF), pays for the cost of driver education, licensure, and motor vehicle insurance for children in licensed out-of-home foster care.  The pilot program, which is called Keys to Independence, has been extremely successful and by November, 2016 over 55 percent of eligible foster teens were enrolled in the program. 

Legislation introduced this session (CS/SB 60) makes the pilot program permanent, expands the eligibility to include children placed in non-licensed foster care, extends the program benefits by 6 months for youth aging out of the system, and funds the program with an annual appropriation of $800,000.  The legislation also mandates that services related to obtaining a driver's license be specifically addressed in a foster child’s plan that outlines the services needed to aid the transition to adulthood.  The bill has been approved by the House and Senate and was presented to Governor Scott on April 26, 2017.

Florida TaxWatch applauds the efforts of the House and Senate in passing this important legislation.  Making it easier for Florida’s foster children to obtain a driver's license helps create normalcy for children that have experienced adversity, and expands their ability to access additional employment and educational opportunities on their road to independence. 

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