While Florida’s legislature did block an ObamaCare expansion that would have resulted in billions of dollars of tax burden, most of NFIB/Florida’s small business legislative priorities were dismissed.
Here are the three most important small business agenda items that were left undone.
1. Sales Tax Reduction on Commercial Leases and Rents
“Florida is the only state that charges this tax, which is paid by almost every small business owner,” says Kristen Butler, NFIB’s Florida communications director. “This tax takes money directly out of a small business owner’s bottom line and puts Florida at a great competitive disadvantage.”
2. Direct Primary Care
Direct primary care is a proposal that would have allowed employers to contract directly with doctors to provide primary care services for their employees.
“The direct primary care model has the potential to save small business owners thousands of dollars per month by allowing them to enter into direct primary care agreements directly with doctors and cutting the third parties out of the transaction,” Butler says.
3. Sales Tax Holiday
The Small Business Saturday sales tax holiday would have made most purchases—those under $1,000 per item—sales tax-free on November 28 at businesses that have less than $3.3 million in annual sales.
“This sales tax holiday encourages consumers to patronize local small businesses instead of big box retailers and keeps money in our local economies,” Butler says.
These agenda items, supported by NFIB/Florida and included in the major tax package passed by the Florida House, were dismissed by the Florida Senate before the conclusion of the 2015 legislative session.
“All three of these priorities would benefit small businesses specifically by reducing their costs of doing business and allowing them to invest in their businesses and create jobs,” Butler says. “As we formulate our 2016 legislative agenda, these items will likely be at the top of the list.”
