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

Session Spotlight: Not Funding VISIT FLORIDA Would Hurt Tourism Promotion and Florida’s Economy

In 1996, the Florida Legislature created the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation, known as VISIT FLORIDA (VF). VF is a public-private partnership that serves as Florida’s statewide destination marketing organization. It is a direct support organization of Enterprise Florida, which is required to contract with VF “to execute tourism promotion and marketing services, functions, and programs for the state.” Over the years, a number of Florida TaxWatch research projects have highlighted the value of VF and shown that continuous, targeted investment in Florida tourism promotion is critical to our state’s economic success. VF has been instrumental in helping tourism recover following disasters and events such as hurricanes, red tide, the Zika virus scare, and the COVID-19 pandemic, dispelling rumors and letting the world know that Florida and its beaches and other attractions were open for business. The pandemic caused a 24.8 percent decrease in tourists. After growth of 38.5 percent in 2022, the number of visitors has surpassed the pre-pandemic peak and is expected to continue to grow, passing the 150 million mark in 2026.

For many years, Florida TaxWatch research has supported investment in the state’s tourism industry.  The state has developed a very good tourism promotion model that has proven success.  HB 7053 would threaten that model.  Although the legislation did not get through its committees, funding for VF is still very much in doubt as budget negotiators have not yet reached agreement.  The language in HB 7053 could resurface as a compromise. 

To remain competitive and sustain Florida’s share of the U.S. tourism market, Florida must continue to invest in tourism marketing and promotion to make sure that when tourists begin to plan their next vacation, they think first of Florida.

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