WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – During a news conference in Winter Haven on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged to eliminate business rent taxes in the state.
In Florida, the sales tax rate on business rent has fallen from 5.5% down to 2% over the past couple of years. This tax is applied to places that are leased for commercial purposes, which can include warehouses, office spaces, and even convention centers.
Recommended Videos
But while speaking on Monday, DeSantis pointed out that Florida is the only state in the country where business rent is taxed — something that he claimed didn’t “make a lot of sense.”
“It does bring in revenue, but quite frankly, I think that the gains in the economy would be better anyways,” DeSantis said. “We’ve reduced the business rent tax a number of times over the last several years, and it’s time, really, to just eliminate it entirely.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
In recent years, the state has experienced major budget surpluses thanks in part to spending cuts and a flood of revenue from sales taxes.
As such, DeSantis argued that there aren’t any financial constraints requiring that business rent taxes stay in place.
“At one point, we just had so much money pouring in — not even through taxing people, just because of the growth and everything happening — that we were like, ‘What are we gonna do?’” DeSantis stated. “And so we were able to cut taxes. We did something called ‘Moving Florida Forward.’”
Last month, DeSantis announced his “Focus on Fiscal Responsibility” budget for 2025-2026, which lists the repeal of the state’s business rent tax as a major goal for his desired tax relief package. According to his office, the repeal would save businesses in Florida around $1.6 billion.
To do so, DeSantis proposed a phased reduction to the tax, dropping to 1% at the start of 2026 before being phased out entirely as of 2027.
Other features of the tax relief package include the following:
- A two-week “Back-to-School” sales tax holiday for items like school supplies, clothes and computers
- A one-month “Freedom Summer” sales tax holiday for outdoor recreation items
- A week-long “Tool Time” sales tax holiday on tools that skilled workers need for their jobs
- A “Second Amendment” sales tax holiday between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July for ammunition, firearms and related accessories
- A two-month boating fuel tax holiday
- A one-year exemption of the intangible tax on mortgages for the first $500,000 of residential for the purchase of a home
- A two-year delay on natural gas taxes that would have otherwise gone into effect on Jan. 1, 2026
DeSantis also touted the state’s “lean, mean” budget and low-tax climate as a big reason behind why so many people have been moving to the state.
“I think what’s happened in some of these states that are high-tax, high-spend is the government itself has become an interest group,” he said. “And there’s just certain constituencies that have a share of this, and so so much of government is just paying off people — whether it’s unions or other things — and so the money just disappears very quickly. And so that’s why you see their budgets escalate so much.”
Aside from business rent taxes, DeSantis has also been vocal about eradicating property taxes in the state.
The issue popped off last month after DeSantis went public with his aims, calling on lawmakers to draft legislation that would improve the state’s homestead exemptions or reduce property taxes more generally.
I agree! https://t.co/MXfnCxPvh1
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 13, 2025
“We can’t control private markets, but we can control how much they can tax you. So we’re going to be working over the next year and a half to see what we can present for voters to be able to vote in the next election for some major, major property tax limitations and reliefs,” DeSantis said.
Property taxes are a local issue, not a state one, so an amendment would be required to change the state’s Constitution. But even if lawmakers manage to get such an amendment through, it would still take approval from 60% of Florida voters before amendment could officially pass.
“We should put the boldest amendment on the ballot that has a chance of getting that (60% threshold),” DeSantis later wrote.
Some proposals — such as SJR 1016 — have already been introduced and discussed by lawmakers. SJR 1016 specifically would put forward an amendment that effectively triples the baseline homestead exemption in Florida.
Meanwhile, another bill (SB 852) aims to put together a study examining the impact of removing property taxes in Florida, potentially replacing them with budget cuts or consumption-based taxes.
Some believe that shifting to higher taxes on goods and services could disproportionately affect consumers, particularly those with lower and middle incomes or those who do not own property. After all, sales taxes could have a disproportionate impact on these groups as compared to wealthier households.
On the flip side, opponents of property taxes argue that they unfairly target homeowners, who have already taken on all of the other burdens that come with homeownership. Worse yet, tax incidence means that the cost of these taxes could even end up falling downstream to lower-income renters who make use of these properties.
As the debate continues, the implications of such a shift remain a critical topic for Florida’s future.