HB 7123 – Relating to Taxation

On Tuesday, April 16,  HB 7123, sponsored by the House Ways and Means Committee, was heard in the House Appropriations Committee and was reported favorably with 18 yeas and 9 nays. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

The bill provides for several tax reductions and other tax-related modifications designed to directly impact both families and businesses. Specifically, this bill provides:

• A reduction in the tax rate for commercial property rentals from 5.7% to 5.35%, 
• A three-day “back-to-school” holiday for certain clothing, school supplies, and personal computers, and 
• A seven-day “disaster preparedness” holiday for specified disaster preparedness items. 

Regarding property taxes, the bill includes the following: 

• The timing of payments to local governments in fiscally constrained counties and Monroe County to offset property tax refunds granted to homeowners due to hurricanes in 2016 and 2017 would be slightly delayed in fiscal year 2019-20 to allow for the related state appropriation to be based on actual data, instead of an estimate. 

HB 7173 will now move to the House floor.

AIF supports legislative actions that reduce taxes on businesses which allows further growth and employment opportunities.

SB 1112 – Relating to Taxation

On Tuesday, April 16, SB 1112 by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) was heard in the Senate Finance and Tax Committee and was reported favorably with 8 yeas and 0 nays. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

This bill provides for several tax reductions and modifications, such as: 

• Exempts specified mobile heavy equipment from ad valorem taxation; 
• Reduces the state tax rate on the rental, lease, or license to use commercial real property from 5.7 percent to 4.2 percent; 
• Creates a 14-day sales tax holiday for specified disaster preparedness supplies from June 1, 2019, through June 14, 2019; 
• Clarifies when remote sales (mail, phone, internet, or other communication) are subject to Florida sales and use taxation; 
• Provides for the taxation of sales facilitated through a marketplace provider; and 
• Requires a marketplace provider to collect and remit the tax on taxable sales made by marketplace sellers.

SB 1112 will now move to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AIF supports legislation that reduces taxes and provides Floridians with a preparedness tax exemption encouraging them to protect their assets against potential destruction.

Proposed Committee Bill WMC 19-03 – Relating to Corporate Income Tax

On Wednesday, April 17, PCB WMC 19-03, sponsored and heard by the House Ways and Means Committee, was reported favorably with 11 yeas and 6 nays. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

Florida imposes a 5.5 percent tax on certain income of corporations doing business in Florida. Florida uses federal taxable income from federal tax returns as a beginning point to calculate corporate income tax owed to Florida. Florida updates its utilization of the Federal Internal Revenue Code (IRC) by adopting the code as it exists on January 1 in any given year. Adopting the code on an annual basis ensures the Florida tax code reflects any relevant changes to the IRC that were made during the prior year. The bill: 

• Updates the Florida corporate Income Tax Code by adopting the Internal Revenue Code as in effect on January 1, 2019; 
• For Florida corporate income tax purposes, provides for a subtraction of global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) from taxpayers’ federal taxable income; 
• Extends the current automatic tax rate adjustment and refund mechanism two years; 
• Requires corporate income taxpayers with taxable years beginning during 2018 or 2019 calendar years to submit certain information from their federal tax returns to the Department of Revenue and to certify the accuracy and truthfulness of the information; and 
• Requires the Department to create a secure online application for the taxpayers to submit the required information beginning September 3, 2019, and to impose a penalty upon taxpayers who fail to timely provide the information.
  
  

AIF supports a reduced corporate income tax on businesses to encourage corporate growth and the expansion of employment opportunities in Florida.

SB 1000 – Relating to Communication Services

On Thursday, April 18, SB 1000 by Senator Travis Hutson (R-Palm Coast) was heard before the Senate Appropriations Committee and was reported favorably with 18 yeas and 1 nay. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

This bill changes the way the use of public rights-of-way by providers of communications services are governed. Specifically:

• Creating a civil cause of action for any person aggrieved by a violation of the right-of-way statute;
• Prohibiting a local government from instituting, “either expressly or de facto, a moratorium or other mechanism that would prohibit or delay” permits for collocation of small wireless facilities or related poles;
• Deleting the authority for a local government to require performance bonds and security funds. Instead, the bill allows them to require a construction bond;
• Allowing a provider of communications services to add a local government to any existing bond, insurance policy, or other financial instrument, and requiring the local government to accept such coverage; 
• Prohibiting a local government from requiring a permit applicant to provide inventories, maps, or locations of communication facilities in the rights-of-way, unless it is necessary to avoid interference with existing facilities.
  
  

SB 1000 will now move to the Senate floor.

HB 693 – Relating to Communication Services

On Thursday, April 18,  HB 693 by Representative Jason Fischer (R-Jacksonville) was heard before the House Commerce Committee and was reported favorably with 21 yeas and 1 nay. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

This bill changes the way the use of public rights-of-way by providers of communications services are governed. Specifically:

• Removes the ability of local governments to elect to charge limited permit fees for use of the ROW but grandfathers local governments who currently require such fees; 
• Establishes limits on registration requirements imposed by local governments; 
• Prohibits local governments from imposing requirements and charges for the placement or operation of communications facilities in the ROW by authorized providers;
• Prohibits local governments from prohibiting, regulating, or charging for installation, operation, and other work done on utility poles used to collocate small wireless facilities (SWFs) in the ROW;
• Exempts utility poles used to support SWFs from authority rules and regulations governing the placement of utility poles in the ROW;
• Repeals a requirement on wireless providers to comply with certain undergrounding requirements.
  
  

HB 693 will now move to the House floor.

AIF supports legislation that will both reduce the communications services permitting process and have a positive financial impact on Florida’s consumers, many of whom are businesses that pay for cable or satellite service.

SB 576 – Relating to Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday

On Thursday, April 18, SB 576 by Senator Keith Perry (R-Gainesville) was heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee and was reported favorably with 18 yeas and 0 nays. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

This bill establishes a 10-day sales tax holiday beginning Friday, August 2, 2019, and ending Saturday, August 11, 2019. During the holiday, certain purchases of clothing, school supplies, and personal computers are exempt from the state sales tax and county discretionary sales surtaxes. The bill allows a business to not participate in the holiday if less than 5% of the business’s gross sales of tangible personal property in the prior calendar year consist of items that would be exempt. 

SB 576 will now move to the Senate floor.

AIF supports sales tax holidays that encourage supporting local business by incentivizing consumers.