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.