(The Center Square) – With the clock counting down on the Florida Legislature’s session, lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis will have to come to a compromise if tax relief legislation is to become law.
The session is scheduled to end on May 2 and the two Republican majority chambers are considerably far apart on tax relief.
The House effort is two measures, House bills 7031 and 7033. The first bill would slice the state’s sales tax from 6% to 5.25%.
The second House bill would exempt the sale of gold, silver and platinum bullion from the state’s sales tax and would have some changes with property tax assessments if it became law. It’d also remove the state’s sales tax on aviation fuel.
HB7031 was passed unanimously on April 9, while HB7033 is in the hands of the House budget committee.
The Senate’s package, Senate Bill 7034, is much smaller in scope. It would create a permanent sales tax exemption for clothing and shoes priced at $75 or less, which the nonprofit Florida TaxWatch says would save Floridians $900 million annually.
There would also be five sales tax holidays and a one-time temporary reduction to certain Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles registration fees.
The measure was passed 3-1 by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee and is now with the Appropriations Committee.
The House has transmitted HB7031 to the Senate and is asking the upper chamber to either pass it as is or include it in the budget conference between the two chambers.
Tax relief isn’t the only area where the two chambers have a large disparity. The Senate budget proposal is $117.4 billion, about $4.4 billion more than the House’s proposed outlay.
Largely missing from these proposals is DeSantis’ priority of property tax relief and a future initiative on the 2026 ballot.
SB7034 would require the state Office of Economic and Demographic Research to conduct a study to establish a framework to reduce or eliminate property taxes for homeowners.
HB7033 would make some changes to property tax appraisals, but wouldn’t increase the state’s homestead exemption or make any other bigger changes.
Democrats have a proposal that would provide a 20% rebate for those receiving the Earned Income Tax credit, but with Republicans dominating both chambers, neither the Senate or House versions will likely make it to the floor for a vote.
