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EDITORIAL: Another loony 'jobs' bill [The Miami Herald]
(Miami Herald (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 09--Florida, short by billions of dollars each year to meet its most important public obligations, such as funding education, now has an opportunity to collect as much as $1 billion from out-of-state companies that sell their wares on the Internet.
And finally, after years of stalling, legislators seem interested in bringing fairness and parity to in-state retailers that abide by the law and collect the sales tax -- only to see their out-of-state competitors skirt the tax obligation.
But then this is Florida, and apparently the rules under the Republican majority in Tallahassee are not only different but outright loony.
Instead of requiring all goods (whether bought at a big box store, a small business or on the Internet) to carry a 6 percent sales tax to go to Florida's near-empty coffers, one proposal in the Senate would close the Internet loophole and then require the Department of Revenue to track the money collected and offer a sales-tax holiday for about the same amount.
Say what?
A sales tax holiday, like the back-to-school one, merits consideration in a tough economy, when people are looking for every little bit of help. But a blanket "revenue neutral" law, as state Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, proposes, is ludicrous.
Blame goes to Gov. Rick Scott, who in an election year seems to think that leveling the sales field for all businesses somehow amounts to a tax hike. He says he supports the "e-fairness" legislation only if it becomes revenue neutral. Memo to the governor: We're broke! We need the money!
Florida consumers of goods bought on the Internet would be paying the sales tax to the online seller, which they ought to be doing now anyway but don't. The online operations would collect the tax just as local retailers do and forward it to the state. Florida consumers of Internet goods would pay taxes on what they buy, and that's only fair, whether it's at the neighborhood store or from a far-flung business in another state.
Why should out-of-state sellers get a break? They do not hire people in Florida. They do not support local charities or Little League teams or do anything to invest in the Sunshine State.
Even though Florida's big business players -- from the Florida Chamber of Commerce to the Florida Retail Federation -- have stepped up the pressure on legislators to end the no-tax advantage of out-of-state online sellers like Amazon and eBay, Mr. Scott sees this fairness issue as a "tax hike." It isn't. It's a move to collect taxes that are already due.
Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, is sponsoring a better bill that seeks fairness on taxation without the revenue neutrality shell game.
Florida would not be alone in this effort. Several states already have passed e-fairness laws to ensure out-of-state Internet sites collect taxes on what they sell.
Still, companies like Amazon are trying to play the incentives game to get off scot-free. The online retailer is talking up building distribution centers in Florida -- the carrot being 3,000 jobs, mostly of the warehousing and trucking kind. Amazon would invest about $200 million with the caveat that it would get a sales tax break until 2014. Ms. Detert's bill accommodates that possibility, but would that type of tax exemption be in Florida's best interest?
Tax breaks to generate jobs should go to companies that bring high wages to Florida. High-tech and biotech jobs that require specialized training would be a boon. But a tax break for warehouse workers and truckers? Is that the governor's vision for Florida?
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(c)2012 The Miami Herald
Visit The Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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