State senator asks for a cut, even though Scott doesn't

With all of Gov. Rick Scott's focus on tax cuts, he left one out of his 2015-16 budget proposal: Florida's sales tax on commercial leases.

Scott asked for other tax cuts: He called for a major bite out of the communications services tax and asked the Legislature to make a current suspension of a manufacturing equipment sales tax permanent. But eliminating the commercial lease sales tax went unmentioned.

Lucky for Scott, it's possible the Legislature will end up cutting the sales tax on commercial leases anyway.

The state currently charges 6 percent on the total rent paid for any commercial property, including storefronts, offices and warehouses. Rentals for agriculture, nonprofits or government agencies are exempt.

Scott had asked for a half-a-percentage point reduction in 2014, but not this year. Instead he asked for a $470 million reduction in the communications services tax, which he may not get from lawmakers. The lease tax brings $1.4 billion into state coffers annually, which would leave a big hole in the budget, so any reduction would likely be gradual.

Scott's office has said he opted for the communications services change over the leases because it would help more Floridians directly. The lease tax only benefits commercial property owners.

State Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, thinks both taxes can be downsized, although she has proposed a smaller reduction in the communications services tax (SB 110, filed in November 2014, cuts the communications services tax 2 percent vs. Scott's 3.6 percent) in order to allow a 1 percent reduction in the commercial leases tax (SB 140, also filed in November).

Bringing the lease tax down to 5 percent would be a first step, Hukill told PolitiFact Florida, because like Scott, she would like to see it phased out entirely. Reducing the tax, which Hukill said was the only one of its kind in the nation, would be especially helpful to the economy because employers could use the saved money to buy more equipment, expand businesses and hire workers.

If the Legislature wants to modify how much her bill lowers the tax, especially if it's to accommodate changes in the communications services tax, Hukill said she's open to that.

"I think it has a good chance to pass, but the most important thing is that it raises people's awareness about this tax," she said. "If it ends up being modified, I'll take a look at that when it comes up."

On Scott's promise, he didn't mention the commercial lease sales tax in his budget proposal, but Hukill did introduce a bill to cut it a percentage point. It's up to the Legislature to sort out which cut wins when the session begins March 3. We rate this promise In The Works.