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

Labor Market Data Indicates a Cool-Down: Could Florida's Workforce Experience a Cold Summer?

This dynamic has been shifting in favor of jobseekers since early 2021, and an unmet labor demand has driven substantial wage inflation. With too many vacant jobs and not enough applicants, employers have had to offer prospects more flexibility and monetary incentives to attract the same quality candidates they had before the COVID-19 pandemic. New data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, has suggested that this strain on employers is beginning to neutralize. Florida’s economy tends to be highly reactive to these changes, which begs the question: how might a national labor market “cooldown” affect Florida?

Current labor market conditions in Florida do not signal a “cooling” just yet, but a return to typical workforce dynamics may be on the horizon if the demand for workers continues to ease across industries. Notably high migration, job growth, and GDP growth prompt a positive outlook for the state economy, but employers in some of Florida’s major industries are struggling to accumulate a workforce to support this growth after labor force participation slumped during the pandemic. The prominent retired and elderly population of Florida poses questions of capacity for the state’s workforce to meet the demands of its flourishing businesses. No matter what changes occur in the labor market, it is crucial to note that Florida is pro cyclical and highly responsive to economic shifts. That is, when changes occur at the national level, these changes are amplified in Florida. If a shift in bargaining power is occurring nationwide, it is possible that jobseekersm in Florida could find themselves with even less leverage. As the tables begin to turn nationally, employers and workers should keep a thermometer on Florida’s labor market dynamics keeping this in mind.

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