Gov. Rick Scott said Friday that he will include an increase in the exemption for corporate income taxes in his budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Scott, who had already floated the proposal at the National Association of Realtors convention in November, reiterated the idea in an interview with the News Service of Florida. He said an increase in the exemption to $75,000 from the current $50,000 would allow around 2,000 additional businesses, or about another 5 percent of the state’s corporations, to avoid paying the tax. Already, about 75 percent of Florida companies don’t pay anything.
“I want to get it up to about 80 percent, and eventually I want to eliminate it, so I want to continue to make progress every year,” Scott said.
Lawmakers have approved increases in the exemption for two straight years, finding another way to work towards Scott’s promise in the 2010 campaign that he would phase out the levy by gradually lowering the rate.
