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

Now is the Time to Eliminate the Business Rent Tax

It would be difficult to find a more clear and widespread competitive disadvantage faced by many Florida businesses than the Business Rent Tax (BRT). Florida subjects commercial lease and license payments to the state and local sales tax and it is the only state in the nation that does so. This creates a government mandated increase of up to 8.0 percent in occupancy costs for all business that rent, a cost they would not incur in any other state (see Appendix for background and history of Florida’s sales tax and the BRT). Florida businesses pay more than $1.7 billion a year as a result of this tax.

Additionally, these rents are subject to the applicable local option sales tax, which can be as high as 2.0 percent. Local sales taxes can only apply to the first $5,000 of a sale of tangible property, but this cap does not apply to rents. The full amount of rent is taxable. Local taxes add another estimated $230 million.

If required by the lease, property taxes, as well as payments for services such as utilities, parking, and janitorial services may also be part of the taxable rent.

Florida TaxWatch released a study on the BRT in 2015 that analyzed the potential benefits of reducing/ eliminating the tax. This report is an update of that study. In addition to examining who pays the tax, the tax burden, and the potential tax savings, this report assesses the impact of the tax on the competitiveness of Florida businesses and the perception of Florida’s business climate. In addition, the myriad of different legislation addressing the BRT for consideration by the 2017 Florida Legislature is examined.

Other the last several years, Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature have shown a commitment to both reducing taxes and improving the state’s business climate. A reduction in the BRT has been considered, and despite broad support, it has failed to happen, largely due to concerns over the fiscal impact of a significant reduction and competition for other tax cuts and spending priorities. In 2017, the debate is on again.

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