[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by nep321

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it this way. Everyone is so hung up on not having an income tax, but they don't think through everything. It's all about me me me and avoiding taxes. Disgusting.

Florida feeds off of tourist dollars.
Tourists pay far more in sales tax than any state income tax would.

Besides, everyone should pay some sort of tax.

We can have an income tax, sure, but let's not eliminate the sales tax.

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by k350

If someone moves to a place, then constantly bashes it saying how great the place they came from was, I think it is pretty fair to tell that person they should move back.

I get that. I’ve done a lot of pushing back on complaints in the Orlando forum over the years. It just seems like if people express negative sentiments about the country, or in this case, the state, they are told to leave.

If people move here for the lower taxes, fine. What bothers me is when they move here for the lower taxes but expect the same amount, level, or quality of government services. They can’t have it both ways.

[foodyum]

How would it work for wealthy retirees who live off investments? That is a population that could and should be taxed. Are they getting off tax free in your scenario? They should live in a multimillion dollar home and pay nothing?

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by nep321

I am not trolling. I actually support this. It would provide investment in Florida's public schools, teacher pay and infrastructure. All of these things support a superior economy. Taxation is a good thing.

Florida now has one of the top starting teacher salary's in the USA (6th I think) after DeSantis's new bill.

Florida's university system ranks near the top in the entire USA.

Overall teacher pay may be low, but so is cost of living here, so their disposable income is likely near the midpoint.

What would Florida do when income takes a huge hit....like during a pandemic? Or, great recession? That means tax revenues also take a huge hit. Thus, it would make tax revenues too volitile.

Taxation is a good thing, except when taxes get too high...like in nearly every Democrat controlled city & state that people are fleeing from to come to Florida....who has the superior economy most would say.

Ask the residents who live in NY, NJ, MA, CT, HI, IL, CA, WA, OR, MN, WI, DC, if taxation is a good thing. Here's their answer

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips...axes/L6HPAVqSF

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Florida feeds off of tourist dollars.
Tourists pay far more in sales tax than any state income tax would.

Besides, everyone should pay some sort of tax.

We can have an income tax, sure, but let's not eliminate the sales tax.

I'm fine with the tourism taxes in different counties/municipalities and a state tourism tax as well. State sales tax isn't especially high, it's actually reasonable considering all the things that are exempted from it.

However during the pandemic, tourism - and by extension "things that are subject to sales tax" is taking a HUGE ugly punch in the gut. And so that revenue isn't coming in, at the rate necessary to maintain the state's infrastructure and get the state's bills paid.

This is evidence that our state needs some additional revenue stream that doesn't rely on tourists.

That's why I think a "gross income" tax would be useful. Not income tax. Income tax involves deductions. Any individual person earning more than a certain amount - say - $150,000 in a given year - should have to pay a flat rate above whatever the federal government takes, and they should have to pay it BEFORE deductions.

Maybe anything under $150k is zero revenue tax.

But if you earn $150,001 then you have to pay 10 cents for that extra dollar.

If you earn $250,000 than you have to pay 5 cents per dollar for the additional $100,000 - so $5000 total.

If you earn $1.5 million you'd pay 5 cents per dollar for the first 500,000 over the 150k - so $25,000. Plus an additional 2 cents per dollar for every dollar over that.

A tiered gross income tax that is not subject to deductions, would certainly help. And for anyone who complains that it's not fair to high income earners - I'll just say - if they don't like having to pay so much, they're welcome to work less, or get a lower-paying job, or sell off some of their stocks.

[masssachoicetts]

Sometimes I wonder how FL stays fiscally stable... But I think even more wealth tax or luxury tax to support better socialist programs would be better. Maybe increase the unemployment a bit? It's not functioning and it's $275 a week. Should be atleast $500.

Property Taxes in FL are wicked high. We lived in a really nice Boston suburb and paid 2/3 as much in property taxes compared to where we lived in FL... and our community was the cheapest.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Sometimes I wonder how FL stays fiscally stable... But I think even more wealth tax or luxury tax to support better socialist programs would be better. Maybe increase the unemployment a bit? It's not functioning and it's $275 a week. Should be atleast $500.

The Florida tax code relies on a) tourists who pay something like 14-15% of the sales tax rate and are responsible for a lot of property tax revenue generated by resorts, vacation condos and second homes and b) high transaction taxes for the endless supply of greater fools (in an economic sense) who come down here to establish residency and pay very high 'document stamp' fees when they buy their homes, high initial car registration, the resetting of the property tax to on reflecting current market value of the home, etc. When the new resident churn rate falls like it did in 2008-09, the state budget really notices the shortfall in doc stamp fees.

[tonyp22]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Sometimes I wonder how FL stays fiscally stable... But I think even more wealth tax or luxury tax to support better socialist programs would be better. Maybe increase the unemployment a bit? It's not functioning and it's $275 a week. Should be atleast $500.

Property Taxes in FL are wicked high. We lived in a really nice Boston suburb and paid 2/3 as much in property taxes compared to where we lived in FL... and our community was the cheapest.

Really? I live in South Jersey, in a very desirable area about 30 minutes from Center City Philly, and my property taxes at that house are about 2-1/2 times higher than the property tax for my house in Orange County - which is 50% larger and has a bit more land. And relative to Central Florida is also in a very nice location.

[_Uncommon_]

Originally Posted by tonyp22

Really? I live in South Jersey, in a very desirable area about 30 minutes from Center City Philly, and my property taxes at that house are about 2-1/2 times higher than the property tax for my house in Orange County - which is 50% larger and has a bit more land. And relative to Central Florida is also in a very nice location.

Please ignore massachoisetts. Guy generally has no clue what he’s talking about.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Sometimes I wonder how FL stays fiscally stable... But I think even more wealth tax or luxury tax to support better socialist programs would be better. Maybe increase the unemployment a bit? It's not functioning and it's $275 a week. Should be atleast $500.

Property Taxes in FL are wicked high. We lived in a really nice Boston suburb and paid 2/3 as much in property taxes compared to where we lived in FL... and our community was the cheapest.

Property taxes are pretty low for us, compared to where we came from up north. Two years ago our property tax bill was over $5000, in the north. Our current property tax bill will be around $1800.

Home size was similar, northern property just slightly more than twice the size as southern property.