HB 7097 – Relating to Taxation

On Tuesday, February 25, HB 7097, sponsored by the House Ways & Means Committee, was heard by the House Appropriations Committee and was reported favorable with 25 yeas and 4 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, the bill provides for a 0.5 percentage point reduction in the state communications services tax. Several provisions related to sales tax are included:

• A reduction in the tax rate for commercial property rentals from 5.5% to 5.4%;
• A three-day “back-to-school” tax holiday for certain clothing, school supplies, and personal computers; and a seven-day “disaster preparedness” tax holiday in May and June of 2020 for specified disaster preparedness items;
• A requirement that School Capital Outlay sales surtaxes approved in the future be proportionately shared with charter schools;
• A change in distributions made under the Tax Collection Enforcement Diversion Program; and
• Future sunset of the Charter County and Regional Transportation System Sales Surtax currently levied in Miami-Dade County, and a requirement that any future levy of the tax in any eligible county be limited to 20 years in duration.

The bill also provides for a one-time increase of $8.2 million available for the brownfields tax credit program and includes a provision that amends the calculation of a taxpayer’s “final tax liability” for purposes of calculating certain corporate income tax refunds.

HB 7097 will now move to the House floor.

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

 

SB 524 – Relating to Sales Tax Holiday for Disaster Preparedness Supplies

On Thursday, February 27, SB 524 by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) was heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee and was reported favorable with 19 yeas and 0 nays. AIF stood in support of this legislation.

Florida levies a 6% sales and use tax on the sale or rental of most tangible personal property, admissions, transient rentals, rental of commercial real estate, and a limited number of services.

The bill establishes an 18-day “disaster preparedness” sales tax holiday, from May 29, 2020 through June 15, 2020, during which time certain items purchased for disaster preparedness and protection are exempt from the sales and use tax and local discretionary sales surtaxes. The bill allows the Department of Revenue to adopt emergency rules in order to implement the sales tax holiday.

SB 524 will now move to the Senate floor.

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

 

SB 542 – Relating to Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday

On Thursday, February 27, SB 542 by Senator Keith Perry (R-Gainesville) was heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee and was reported favorable with 19 yeas and 0 nays. AIF stood in support of this legislation.

Florida levies a 6% sales and use tax on the sale or rental of most tangible personal property, admissions, transient rentals, rental of commercial real estate, and a limited number of services.

The bill establishes a 10-day “back-to-school” sales tax holiday, from Friday, July 31, 2020 to Sunday, August 9, 2020, for certain clothing, school supplies, personal computers, and personal computer-related accessories.

SB 542 will now move to the Senate floor.

AIF supports tax cuts for Florida’s consumers and businesses.

 

SB 7058 – Relating to Internal Revenue Code

On Thursday, February 27, SB 7058, sponsored by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, was heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee and was reported favorable with 18 yeas and 0 nays. AIF stood in support of this legislation.

Florida imposes a 5.5% tax on the taxable income of corporations and financial institutions doing business in Florida. The determination of taxable income for Florida tax purposes begins with the taxable income used for federal income tax purposes. Additional adjustments are then made to determine Florida’s taxable income. By starting with federal taxable income, Florida eases the administrative burden on Florida taxpayers because they receive the same treatment in Florida as is allowed in determining their federal taxable income. Florida maintains this relationship with the federal Internal Revenue Code (IRC) each year by adopting the IRC as it exists on January 1 of the year. By doing this, Florida adopts any changes that were made in the previous year to the determination of federal taxable income.

The bill updates Florida’s corporate Income Tax Code by adopting the federal Internal Revenue Code in effect on January 1, 2020.

SB 7058 will now move to the Senate floor.

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