The
Florida property tax system is regulated and maintained by the federal tax law and Florida state legislature. The state legislative body provides some property tax exemptions on the personal properties.
The Legislature has recently announced to repeal the annual taxes on intangible personal property by the individuals, estate representatives, married couples or businesses since 1st January 2007. The examples of intangible personal property in Florida are - stocks, mutual funds, bonds, shares of business trusts, money market funds and unsecured notes. June 30, 2006 was the due date for the property tax payers in Florida to file the returns on intangible property before the implication of the new rule. Some of the intangible properties are still taxable in Florida and they are the leases of government owned real property and the notes earned by a mortgage on a Florida real property.
The property tax in Florida refers to the tax imposed on the assessed value of the property, which may be either personal property or real property. The personal property in Florida is divided further into four sub-categories as - household goods, intangible personal property, inventory and tangible personal property. The real property in Florida means land, fixtures, buildings and all the improvements available on the land. The government taxing authority of Florida constitution calculates the property tax rate in Florida.
The
Florida Property Tax Reform Committee is formed in order to gain relief for the Florida property owners. The committee is also dedicated to conduct a comprehensive examination on the current property tax structure of Florida. The purpose of the committee lies in making the recommendations to improve the present property tax structure in Florida. Depending on the compliance, equity, economic neutrality, economic competitiveness and fiscal balance, the recommendations suggested by the committee are guided. The committee also takes the responsibility to discuss the consequences occurred from the property tax exemptions while discussing the affordability, appropriateness and economic consequences of the Florida property taxation levels. The introduction of alternative taxation, replacement to the property taxation and the limitations of the local government's revenue and expenditure are also discussed by the committee.