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, E-Fairness

Letter to the Governor on E-Fairness

The Honorable Ron DeSantis

Governor State of Florida

The Capitol

400 S. Monroe St.

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001

Dear Governor DeSantis,

On behalf of the members, staff, and distinguished volunteer leadership of Florida TaxWatch, led by our Chairman, U.S. Senator George S. LeMieux, I strongly encourage you to sign Senate Bill 50 – The Randy Miller Act – known by most as the 2021 E-Fairness bill or the taxpayer penalty relief endeavor.

SB 50 is one of the most significant pieces of tax legislation in Florida’s history and goes further than most previous initiatives in ensuring taxpayer fairness, reducing the risks and burdens Floridians are exposed to, and providing a more competitive landscape for Florida businesses. The final bill contains four provisions Florida TaxWatch has championed.

First, thanks to the E-Fairness provisions, this bill levels the playing field for Florida businesses by requiring out-of-state sellers doing business in Florida to collect and remit the required Florida sales taxes due, just like every law-abiding Florida business currently does today. Out-of-state sellers have been flaunting existing law and shifting their responsibility to unsuspecting Floridians, forcing Florida consumers to calculate and remit their own taxes and subjecting them to audits and penalties that could result in penalties as high as 50% of the taxes due.

 

Read the full letter below. 

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