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

Download the Recommendations

Other Resources

Florida Disaster.biz
FEMA
Florida Department of Financial Services
Florida SBDC
Disaster Contractors Network
Florida Disaster Fund

Florida TaxWatch Statement on Hurricane Ian Recovery

Community Involvement

/ Categories: Research, Taxes, Budget/Approps, Taxpayer Guide, Voter Guides

Requiring a Supermajority to Raise Taxes or Fees Can Protect Taxpayers

Governor Rick Scott recently announced he would be recommending that the 2018 Legislature pass a joint resolution to put a proposed constitutional amendment before the voters that would require a supermajority vote for lawmakers to “pass or raise taxes or fees.” Currently, it takes a simple majority vote of a quorum of legislators voting to pass most bills, including most tax increases.

Having led in the enactment of Florida’s current consitutional state revenue limitation, Florida TaxWatch has been recommending a simpler and higher standard to pass tax increases since 1995. Even though there has not been a major state tax increase since 2009 and the Legislature has instead cut taxes in every session since then, a well-crafted supermajority requirement is still an important taxpayer safeguard. It would ensure that a broad consensus is reached before Floridians are required to contribute more of their hard-earned money to support a bigger state government. A thoughtful, non-draconian supermajority vote requirement not only protects taxpayers, it can also help avoid a more severe tax or revenue limit that could improperly and imprudently constrain state government.

The concept of a supermajority vote to raise taxes is not new to Florida. With the support of an Amicus Brief by Florida TaxWatch, the Constitution already requires a proposed constitutional amendment to create a new state tax or fee to be approved by not fewer than two-thirds of the voters voting in the election. In addition, the Legislature is prohibited from raising the corporate income tax rate above the current rate of 5.5 percent without a three-fifths vote of the membership of each chamber of the Legislature.

The Legislature also requires supermajority votes for local governments to raise many of their limited array of tax options. Several local option sales, motor fuel, and tourist development taxes require a supermajority vote of the local governing body (or referendum) to enact. A two-thirds vote of a local governing body is also required to levy a property tax millage rate that exceeds the rolled-back rate and a unanimous vote is required to exceed the rolled-back rate by more than 10 percent. A majority plus one vote is required to increase local business taxes in certain circumstances.

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