Florida 2016-2017 Budget Proposal Includes Multiple Sales Tax Cuts

DALLAS, Nov. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 23, 2015, Florida Governor Rick Scott released his "Florida First" budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2016-2017. As part of his budget, Governor Scott has proposed cutting more than $1 billion in taxes. Specifically, the sales tax cuts proposed include:

• A permanent sales tax exemption for the purchase of manufacturing machinery and equipment. There is currently an exemption in place for manufacturing machinery and equipment in Florida, but that exemption is set to expire April 30, 2017.
• A reduction in the rate of sales tax on commercial leases by 1%. The state sales tax rate is currently 6%, but Governor Scott's budget proposal would reduce the state sales tax rate for commercial leases to 5%. The county surtax would still apply in addition to the reduced state rate.
• A permanent sales tax exemption for the purchase of certain college textbooks from sales tax. Currently, certain college textbooks are exempt from sales tax; however, that exemption is set to expire on June 30, 2016.
• Two sales tax holidays: a ten-day back-to-school sales tax holiday and a nine-day disaster preparedness sales tax holiday. Florida has provided back-to-school and disaster preparedness sales tax holidays in past years. The last back-to-school sales tax holiday was in August 2015, and the last disaster preparedness sales tax holiday was in June 2014.

The tax cuts proposed in Governor Scott's budget still must be approved by the Florida Legislature but, if approved, would provide tax relief to both businesses and consumers in Florida.

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