A number of states have opted not to go along with all of the federal tax cuts President Donald Trump pushed through last year in the 鈥�,鈥� but, according to an attorney representing the Florida Chamber of Commerce, no state has gone as far in decoupling from the law as Florida is contemplating. And he鈥檚 not happy about it.
French Brown via LinkedIn 鈥淲e鈥檙e unaware of any other bill in the nation that proposes to fully remove every benefit from the Trump tax cuts,鈥� Tallahassee lawyer and lobbyist French Brown told the Florida House Ways and Means Committee Thursday.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by Trump on the 4th of July last year, contained about $4.5 trillion in federal tax cuts over 10 years. It created temporary tax deductions for tips, overtime, and loan interest on new vehicles assembled in the United States. It temporarily raises caps on state and local tax deductions from $10,000 to $40,000, and it provides numerous tax breaks to businesses, including the ability to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research, as summarized by .
Florida鈥檚 GOP legislative leaders however, noting that show the state facing budget deficits in coming years, have opted not to apply the new federal changes to the state鈥檚 corporate income tax in bills passed in Senate and House committees this week.
Rep. Wyman Duggan via Florida House 鈥淭he House鈥檚 position is that, as was recognized in a previous question, the long-range financial outlook is mixed at best,鈥� House Ways & Means Committee Chair Wyman Duggan said Thursday. 鈥淎nd we at this point in the process do not want to engage in forgoing that kind of recurring revenue until we have a more clear stance of the scope of this year鈥檚 budget, for example, and some other considerations.鈥�
Duggan said that if the Legislature implements all of the five federal tax break 鈥渟ilos鈥� with full retroactivity to January 2025, it would cost the state $3.1 billion.
But Brown says 鈥渄ecoupling isn鈥檛 a binary operation.鈥� There is a 鈥渞ange of options鈥� the Legislature could still implement as the tax bill goes through the budgeting process in the next couple of weeks, he said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 stand here just to beg for tax relief,鈥� he said. 鈥淒ecoupling from the Trump tax cuts truly creates an administrative burden on Florida businesses. It鈥檚 going to require them to keep separate Florida books and records from their federal books and records.鈥�
鈥楾he right thing for Florida鈥橶ays & Means approved the $251 million tax package ( unanimously Thursday. Its provisions include:
- Exempting the sales of certain propane tanks.
- Exempting firearm accessories from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.
- Adopting a four-month sales tax holiday on certain outdoor supplies.
- Adjusting the dates of the Back to School tax holiday from August to July 20 through Aug. 20.
The decoupling portion of the tax bill is 鈥渢he right thing for Florida,鈥� said Orlando Rep. Anna Eskamani, the ranking Democrat on the committee.
鈥淚 empathize with concerns of administrative burdens,鈥� she said about the Chamber鈥檚 complaint. 鈥淏ut the reality is that $3 billion is huge for us right now and we are trying to operate a budget that is balanced, that is going to be strong in the face of upcoming potential storms.鈥�
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent several blue states in December that announced they were decoupling from portions of the federal law, calling it 鈥渁 blatant act of political obstructionism鈥� and said they were 鈥渄eliberately blocking their own residents from receiving these historic benefits at the state level.鈥�
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