Rent law repeal, other laws to take effect

Jim Turner News Service of Florida

A more than decade-long push by business groups will pay off next week with the end of a state sales tax on commercial leases. The tax, widely known as the business rent tax, will go away Oct. 1 after 57 years as part of a wide-ranging tax package that lawmakers passed in June. The change will come as nearly 30 new laws hit the books Oct. 1. “By Florida eliminating the business rent tax, it’s going to lower the cost of doing business in Florida, which will help lower the cost of living here,” Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson said. The business rent tax began in 1968, when the state sales-tax rate stood at 4 percent. The rent tax rate increased as the overall sales-tax rate went up in 1984 and 1988, reaching 6 percent. Over the past decade, with business groups clamoring against the tax, legislators slowly chipped away at the rent tax rate. It has been 2 percent since June 2024, according to a House staff analysis. The elimination is projected to collectively save businesses nearly $1.15 billion during the current fiscal year, which will run through June 30. That amount is projected to increase to $1.53 billion next fiscal year. The Chamber of Commerce highlighted the tax as part of its Florida 2030 Blueprint report released nearly a decade ago. The business group said the tax made Florida less competitive with other states, as it generated about $3 billion a year in tax revenue at the time. “Now $3 billion a year goes back into local businesses that they can pour back into their people, back into equipment, back into innovation, back into helping their customers,” Wilson said. Most laws passed during this year’s legislative session took effect July 1, along with the start of the fiscal year. But other laws become effective on Oct. 1. They include:

— HB 113, increasing criminal penalties for motorists who flee or attempt to elude law-enforcement officers.

— HB 150, known as “Trooper’s Law,” creating a third-degree felony offense of animal cruelty for people who restrain dogs outside during natural disasters.

— SB 168, known as the “Tristin Murphy Act,” making changes in how mentally ill people are treated in the criminal-justice system. The law is named after a 37-year-old schizophrenic who took his life shortly after being sent to a prison on a littering charge.

— HB 253, increasing penalties for motorists who use lights on their vehicles to stop other people and impersonate law-enforcement officers. The bill also increases penalties for tampering with license plates.

— HB 687, increasing penalties for repeat offenses of such crimes as driving under the influence manslaughter, boating under the influence manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

— HB 777, making a series of changes aimed at strengthening laws against luring or enticing children.

— SB 948, requiring landlords to disclose information about flood risks and past flooding to prospective tenants.

— HB 1049, increasing penalties for harassing or retaliating against judges and other court officials.

— SB 1386, increasing penalties for people who commit assault or battery on utility workers.

— SB 1804, making sex trafficking of children under 12 or people who are mentally incapacitated punishable by the death penalty.

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