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Unemployment Tax Cut

Posted: 4:12 PM Mar 28, 2012
Reporter: Whitney Ray

Unemployment Tax Cut

Tallahassee, FL -- March 28, 2012 --

Surrounded by legislative leaders and business lobbyists Governor Rick Scott signed four bills aimed at creating jobs.

Governor Rick Scott (R-Florida) said, “The passage of these four important bills is a huge victory for the future of Florida’s economy.”

One bill doubles the corporate income tax exemption to 50-thousand dollars. Another creates a sales tax holiday for back to school shoppers. The legislation getting the most attention reduces the state’s unemployment tax.

“At the start of the year the state’s unemployment tax skyrocketed to 170 dollars an employee. The bill the governor signed Wednesday lowers the tax to 120 dollars. The reason it has to go up at all is because at the height of the recession Florida borrowed 2.6 billion dollars to pay unemployment benefits.”

The reduction will save this BBQ business with 35 employees more than 17 hundred dollars.

Brian Rowe of Piggy’s BBQ, “Anything to help to reduce that would help our business.”

But lowing the tax means it will take the state five years to pay back the loan instead of three; which means Florida businesses are on the hook for two extra years of interest payments, costing millions more

Reporter: Governor, paying it out over a longer period of time, won’t the state just pay more in interest doing it that way?

Scott: It still made sense. What we’ve got to do if we want employers to hire more people we’ve got to think like they do. They’ve got to keep costs as low as they can.”

The unemployment tax is based on the number of employees. So if the reduction helps create more jobs, then the state will collect more money and could possible pay off the loan sooner.