Gov. Rick Scott eagerly signed into law around $430 million in tax cuts Tuesday, including reducing cell phone and TV services taxes. Scott had pushed for $470 million in cuts at the start of the regular session in March -- and in spite of the hospital-funding pull on reserves, he nearly got what he asked for. The House and the Senate passed the cuts on Monday.
“Giving Floridians back more of the money they earn in tax cuts is the best thing we can do to keep Florida’s economy growing,” Scott said on Monday after the Legislature passed the tax cuts. “Cutting Florida’s cellphone and TV tax is particularly important because it will save money for Florida families who pay a cellphone, satellite or cable TV bill. Florida’s budget had an over $1 billion budget surplus this year because of the hard work of Floridians, and this tax cut package will send more than $400 million back to the people who earned it. I applaud the Florida House and the Florida Senate for their work on this legislation and I look forward to working with them to keep cutting taxes next year and to keep Florida working.”
Among the provisions provided for in the tax cuts package is a 10-day back-to-school holiday originally championed in the Senate. The 10-day period is an increase from the House’s original proposal of a three-day holiday where shoppers wouldn’t have to pay sales tax on items like clothing less than $100 and school supplies less than $15.
The tax holiday would start Aug. 7 and would be one of the longest back-to-school tax periods since the concept was introduced in 1998.
Another school-related proposal includes a slash of of taxes on college textbooks. The House initially proposed only having the tax-free time during the beginning of each semester, but the Senate proposed extending the tax cuts all year long.
The biggest proposal is a communications-related tax cut totaling $207 million. Cuts would extend to cable, phone and satellite services and should save Floridians with $100 monthly cable bills around $20 over a 12-month period. That cut could start as early as July 1.
The House also approved a tax cut for boat owners, making boat and yacht repairs tax-free under the new package.
The business community applauded Scott for signing the tax cuts.
“We applaud Governor Rick Scott for delivering significant savings to Florida families today with the signing of HB 33A,” said former U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., the president and CEO of the Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), on Tuesday. “The more than $400 million in tax cuts includes the reduction to the Communications Services Tax, which will provide relief to Florida families that pay annual wireless and television service taxes (CST). We believe it is imperative to foster an economic climate in our state that allows businesses to grow and its people to succeed. And, broad-based tax cuts, like the CST, do just that by keeping money in Floridians’ pockets and allowing businesses to flourish in a competitive environment.”
"We applaud Gov.Scott for signing this important piece of legislation which is significant for the more than 270,000 retailers statewide," said Rick McAllister, the president and CEO of the Florida Retail Federation. "I also want to thank Rep. Matt Gaetz and Sens. Tom Lee and Dorothy Hukill for their leadership in ensuring that Florida's families and businesses have a successful and productive back-to-school shopping experience."
David Hart, the executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, praised the cuts as a “meaningful tax cut package” which his organization fully supported.
Chris Hudson, the Florida director for Americans for Prosperity’s (AFP) Florida chapter, called the cuts a “broad-based tax cut package that will put more money back into the pockets of families and entrepreneurs."
“Almost every Floridian will benefit from this tax relief,” Hudson insisted “$400 million is a lot to give back to Floridians and we are excited for taxpayers.”
Reach Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen. Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
