A proposal to reduce sales tax has passed its first House committee. The reduction is at the center of a standoff between the state’s top political power players over what form tax reductions should take.
The House proposal would reduce state sales tax from 6% to 5.25%. It would also reduce business rental tax and the tax on mobile home purchases.
The legislation emerged as a committee bill, but it’s being championed by Jacksonville Republican Representative Wyman Duggan.
“We are clearly setting a course and a vision that is going to provide immediate, meaningful relief to every single Floridian that makes a purchase,” he said.
The reduction is a priority of House Speaker Daniel Perez. At its first committee stop, it garnered unanimous, bipartisan support.
Orlando Democratic Representative Anna Eskamani said the policy is a step in the right direction because it will have more of a positive impact on the state’s lower income residents.
“Florida has a very regressive tax structure, partly because we are so reliant on sales tax. And that's not a left or right concept. It's an economic term that basically means for our Floridians that make less, they pay more of their income to taxation those that make more,” she said.
The main opponent of Perez’s proposal is Governor Ron DeSantis. He has argued it would provide more relief to vacationers. Instead, he wants lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 to eliminate property taxes.
“The tax relief needs to be Florida first. We need to focus on our Florida residents. In this case, our Florida homeowners, particularly our homesteaded homeowners,” he said during a press conference earlier this week.
What proposal will win out in the legislature is uncertain. Senate President Ben Albritton wrote in a statement that both sides need to find a compromise for a policy to be passed.
