home arrow BUSINESS arrow Florida lawmakers push to tax online purchases

AP Business Video



Login Form






Lost Password?
No account yet? Register
DIGITAL EDITION
Florida lawmakers push to tax online purchases PDF Print E-mail
Written by GARY FINEOUT   
Thursday, 07 February 2013

nancy_detert.jpgTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ There's a new twist this year in the annual push to make online retailers collect sales tax from Florida buyers. Supporters of the move are linking the prospect of new online taxes to other tax cuts for businesses and consumers in order to win over a skeptical Legislature.

The first step came Tuesday when a Senate panel approved a sweeping tax measure aimed at getting online sellers to collect the state's 6 percent sales tax from Florida residents.

``The world has changed and we need to recognize the change,'' said Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, one of the sponsors of the legislation.

Floridians are supposed to pay taxes for online purchases but there's really no way to enforce the law. Under current laws, the state can't force out-of-state retailers such as Seattle-based Amazon.com to collect the tax unless it has a physical presence such as a warehouse or store.

Detert has long favored forcing online retailers to collect the same tax now collected by ``brick and mortar'' stores but the effort hasn't gotten very far in the Capitol.

But this year Detert attached two other tax cuts to the online tax legislation (SB 316). One would eliminate the state's sales tax charged to manufacturers that purchase equipment.

The $115 million tax cut is a top priority for Gov. Rick Scott, who says it will help create more jobs in the state.

Detert also wants to slash by 15 percent the state tax now charged on phones and cable television and cut the state tax charged on satellite television by 10 percent.

``This would have a big impact,'' Detert said.

Comments (0)Add Comment

Write comment
This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comments.

busy
 
< Prev   Next >
 

STOCKS



Powered by Stock Trader
Big 4 cellphone carriers unite on anti-texting ads Big 4 cellphone carriers unite on anti-texting ads
NEW YORK — The four biggest U.S. cellphone companies are set to launch their first joint advertising campaign against tex...
Read more...
‘Fast & Furious 6’ is best of the franchise‘Fast & Furious 6’ is best of the franchise
Just when you thought the people behind the Fast & Furious franchise were finished with all of the crazy car races an...
Read more...
‘Django Unchained’ back after Chinese ‘censorship’‘Django Unchained’ back after Chinese ‘censorship’
BEIJING – Quentin Tarantino’s slave-revenge movie Django Unchained returned to Chinese theaters about a month after it wa...
Read more...
Top-notch visuals, old ‘Trek’ linesTop-notch visuals, old ‘Trek’ lines
Star Trek Into Darkness (AP) — Like fan-boy fiction on a $185 million budget, director J.J. Abrams’ film is reverential, ...
Read more...

The most influential African American weekly newspaper in South Florida

Beatty Media LLC