New Bill May Give Use Tax Relief in FL!

Until recently, I had been very disappointed by Florida's policy on taxing aviation. Florida's tax books have a law that charges a 6% tax on any aircraft that enters the state within 6 months of being purchased - no matter where the aircraft was purchased or how long it was in the state. Thankfully, as mentioned in the video above, the AOPA and the Florida Aviation Trades Association (FATA) have worked enough with the state legislature that an important modification to this law made it through the house a couple days ago.

When changed, the law will give aircraft owners up to 21 days for tourism or travel in the state without any tax being assessed. If the aircraft is in Florida for training, repairs or modification, there is never any tax assessed against the aircraft owner. Thankfully, the law only ever applies to aircraft that have been owned for less than 6 months.

You can imagine the devastation this law has been causing for Florida businesses for several decades. I'm glad the legislature has finally come around and realized what a difference they can make for their state. I suspect that the revenue generated by increased tourism, training, maintenance, etc. will dwarf any revenue the state may have gleaned from this tax.

The bill is on Governor Crist's desk, awaiting his signature. I haven't been much of a fan of Crist yet because his responses to complaints about this law have been less than satisfying. I hope he takes advantage of this opportunity to do some thing great for his state and for aviation in general.