Democrats across the country, and especially in Washington D.C. continue to push tax increase after tax increase. That includes Democrats championing online sales taxes long before they were even legal.
That isn’t stopping Florida Democrats from pretending they care about taxpayers. But, just like Joe Biden’s bogus promise to not raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000 annually, their charges are completely false, and based on the assumption their audience won’t check their claims.
That claim is that Senate Bill 50, which implements an online sales tax, is a tax increase. In reality, the legislature has fully offset any new revenue from that tax. The bill uses that revenue to avoid automatic payroll tax increases, and also significantly cuts the commercial rent tax. It will most likely be a net tax cut over time.
Small businesses, many of whom have been hurt by the pandemic, will save money by paying less tax on their rent. In fact, Florida is the only state that even has such a tax on renting property to run a business. It is a significant accomplishment to cut this tax, and lawmakers can now target completely eliminating it next session. This is the kind of tax that adds costs that get passed down to Florida consumers, who will pay a little less to shop near home.
North of $1 billion will be saved annually once the cut to the commercial rent tax is implemented.
On top of that, billions of dollars worth of payroll taxes will be avoided. The pandemic exhausted Florida’s unemployment fund, and refilling it would have triggered automatic tax hikes on many beleaguered businesses. SB 50 avoids this scenario.
Congress, controlled by Democrats, has become actively hostile towards states trying to avoid such tax increases. Sen. Joe Manchin inserted language in the latest relief bill that attempts to stop states from even ‘indirectly’ preventing tax hikes if they accept relief dollars.
It is dishonest to make it sound like this bill is a stealth tax hike, signed by Governor DeSantis in the dead of night. In reality, this legislative package has been worked on publicly over months, amended to ensure Florida taxpayers are protected, and passed in the bright of day.
Florida Democrats, just like their colleagues in Washington, have no credibility on taxes, except when it comes to raising them.