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

New General Revenue Forecast Adds $572.5 Million for the Next Budget

New General Revenue Forecast Adds $572.5 Million for the Next Budget - Report Cover

The General Revenue (GR) Estimating Conference met on January 23 to adopt Florida’s latest GR forecast—the estimate that tells lawmakers how much is available for the next state budget. The updated forecast adds $572.5 million to the amount available for the upcoming budget year, but while meaningful, it amounts to only about one percent of total GR collections.

Actual collections exceeded the prior estimate by $486.9 million during the first five months of FY2025–26, and the Conference increased the current-year estimate by $502.5 million and the FY2026–27 estimate by $70.0 million. The gains are driven largely by higher expected sales tax collections, Indian gaming receipts, and earnings on investments, while the corporate income tax forecast was reduced by $805.5 million over two years—signaling a notable shift after years of strong performance.

Florida TaxWatch notes that this improved outlook is good news, but not game changing, as recurring budget pressures and long-range shortfall warnings remain. With thousands of member project requests and billions in potential earmarks, Florida TaxWatch urges lawmakers to rein in local project spending and take a hard look at unnecessary recurring costs to avoid deeper deficits in the years ahead.

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Kurt Wenner
Kurt Wenner
Senior Vice President of Research
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