Tax package has sales tax ‘holidays,’ small cut to property insurance premiums
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate on Thursday rolled out a tax break package that includes offering sales-tax “holidays” and a small discount on property insurance premiums.
The proposal, which would trim state and local revenue by $439.6 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, is a companion to a proposed $117.46 billion budget lawmakers are poised to pass Friday.
“We have some very good items in this tax package,” Senate Finance and Tax Chairman Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, said.
Insurance tax credits would lead to 1.75 percent savings on residential property insurance premiums. Ingoglia said average savings are projected at $60 per household, rising to $75 for residents who also have flood coverage.
Floridians have seen property insurance rates soar in recent years to an average of $4,000 per year.
The package also includes breaks for railroads and corporations that employ people with disabilities.
It doesn’t contain a House proposal to reduce further a commercial-lease tax that businesses have long sought to eliminate. The tax went from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent last year and is slated to drop to 2 percent in June. The House wanted to reduce it to 1.25 percent for a year.
The tax package was affected by a decision Sunday by budget leaders to bring back a discount for frequent toll-road users and to set aside $162 million as part of expenses related to a controversial 2018 transit tax in Hillsborough County that was ruled unconstitutional. The toll credit program will cut state revenue by about $450 million.
The toll discount, which was in place in 2023, would begin again April 1 and provide 50 percent credits to motorists who make 35 or more toll-road trips a month.
The Senate and House are expected to approve the tax package Friday. It includes a series of sales-tax holidays in which consumers can buy items without paying sales taxes.
There are a pair of 14-day tax holidays for disaster-preparedness supplies around the June 1 start of hurricane season and near the mid-September peak of the season. Also, it would include a back-to-school tax holiday from July 29 to Aug. 11 for clothes, school supplies and personal computers.
Also, the package includes a one-month summer tax holiday on recreational purchases, ranging from buying camping gear to tickets for concerts and sporting events. In addition, it includes what has been dubbed a “tool time” tax holiday around Labor Day for purchasing tools and other work supplies.
The four “holidays” are expected to save shoppers $289 million, with the back-to-school discount period topping the list at $97.2 million.
The package also would provide corporate-income tax credits of $1,000 for each employee with disabilities, which is expected to total $5 million.