Taxes

Emphasizing a sales-tax “holiday” for hurricane preparedness supplies, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed an annual package of tax breaks.The package (HB 7073), passed by lawmakers during the legislative session that ended in March, is expected overall to trim state and local revenue by $439.6 million during the upcoming 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Timothy Meade, of Fort Myers, operated a prison phone call service under several business names and failed to pay employment taxes for 10 years.

Steve Shimp, Chair of Lee County’s Independent Sales Surtax Oversight Committee, or ISSOC, recently gave an update on the half penny sales tax that was passed as a referendum in 2018. The half penny sales tax was meant to fund the acquisition, construction, renovation, equipping and financing of public school facilities and technology for ten years.

The 562,000 tax bills being mailed to property and business owners in Lee County today are not meant to be scary, they are simply a reality of life. The bills reflect the value of the property as of January 1, 2023, when Florida law required them to be assessed.

The Internal Revenue Service said Monday it is ending its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits, in an effort to help keep its workers safe and to combat scammers who pose as IRS agents.

The computer crashed at the Florida motor vehicle department.

The House bill (HB 7063) would offer shoppers a series of expanded sales-tax “holidays” on back-to-school items, hurricane-preparedness supplies, summer activities and tool purchases. As an example, the state would offer two back-to-school holidays, after offering one in the past.

A plan proposed by Governor Ron DeSantis and backed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner would be the largest tax relief proposal in Florida history and is being touted as saving Florida families up to $2 billion during the 2023–2024 fiscal year.