Tax Break for Floridians..

[Aquawind]

We will take it..well hopefully people take advantage of it and prepare..

Get storm staples tax free June 1-12

By PAUL FLEMMING
THE NEWS-PRESS TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
Published by news-press.com on April 21, 2005


TALLAHASSEE — Floridians are set to get a sales-tax break to get ready for hurricane season.

The House on Wednesday voted 116-1 for a June 1-12 sales-tax holiday. A similar bill is making its way through the Senate, with likely passage before the end of the regular session May 6.

Consumers would save the 6 percent state sales tax on particular purchases during that time, which coincides with the official start of the hurricane season.

Bill Herrle, a Florida Retail Federation lobbyist, said stores plan promotions around the sales-tax holiday and the proposal will help with inventory control.

With the tax break as inducement, Herrle said, it's hoped more people will buy the items ahead of time and not wait until a storm is approaching, when it's hard for stores to keep things such as batteries and flashlights on shelves.

"That's one of the public policy goals of this legislation," Herrle said. "If people can get them sooner, rather than in the face of an oncoming storm, that helps the stores."

Rep. Holly Benson, R-Pensacola, sponsored one of the bills that got rolled into what the House passed. "We all ought to be prepared in case we get hit this year," she said.

A staff analysis of the bill predicts the holiday will reduce state revenue by $7.6 million. The Retail Federation takes a different view.

"It has long been our contention that these sales-tax holidays create additional taxable sales in other product lines that offset the tax revenue loss," Herrle said.



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Paul