Gov. DeSantis signs tax package with sales tax holidays, insurance cuts

Consumers, homeowners and businesses are set to benefit the most from a tax cut plan that will save taxpayers an estimated $914 million over two years, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 7073.

“When you’re running big budget surpluses you’ve got to be able to return some of that back to the taxpayers,” DeSantis said during a bill signing event in Cape Canaveral.

Combined with a $450 million toll rebate program in a separate bill (HB 5003) DeSantis has pledged to sign, taxpayers could save nearly $1.4 billion over two years.

The largest chunk of the package is the elimination of insurance premium taxes for homeowner and flood policies over the next two fiscal years. The bill requires insurers to cut their premium on those policies by 1.75% — the total of the insurance premium tax — and then receive a tax rebate of the same amount.

The tax rebate will apply to policies started or renewed between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30, 2025. It’s projected to save homeowners $502 million over that span.

That’s about 3% on average, a small piece in relation to the double-digit rate hikes experienced by most Florida homeowners in recent years. But Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and other Senate leaders have said even small relief on insurance rates will help homeowners.

There’s also provisions to expand an existing tax break for businesses that hire disabled employees, saving an estimated $10 million over the next three years, and to set up a new tax cut for companies that provide or support child care operations for their workers, saving another $10 million over three years.

“This is very smart, I think it’s going to make a difference,” DeSantis said of the child care tax break. “Child care has been really, really difficult. It’s expensive and there’s not a lot of options for parents who are working.”

The package also includes a quartet of sales tax holidays, but some are pared back from the past year.

The back-to-school sales tax holiday on clothing and school items will last two weeks starting July 29; the holiday for the Spring semester that lawmakers approved for the current year wasn’t included.

Last year’s “Freedom Summer” sales tax holiday on event tickets to museums, sporting events, plays, festivals, fairs and outdoor items has been reduced to “Freedom Month” and will last during July. There’s also a one-week holiday on tools starting Sept. 1 and two separate two-week sales tax holidays for disaster preparedness items, starting June 1 and Aug. 24.

The post Gov. DeSantis signs tax package with sales tax holidays, insurance cuts appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..

scroll to top