Florida Sales Tax Scholarship Program

The 2018 Florida legislative session passed and signed into law a new House Bill (HB) that allows any tenant that pays a rental or licensee fee that is subject to a business rent tax to make a voluntary donation to a nonprofit scholarship-funding organization (SFO) which then places that voluntary donation in to a scholarship fund that helps educate children with special needs.  The tenant receives a 100% credit in the amount donated to offset the tenant’s tax liability. This law is known as HB 7055 and became active on July 1st.

The program is capped at $57.5 million. Contributions will first be used to fund Gardiner Scholarships for students with special needs.  Remaining funds will be used for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program for students with financial needs.

The Gardiner Scholarship, begun in January 2016, allows parents to personalize the education of their children who have special needs.  The Florida Legislature created the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program in 2001. Through this law SFOs award scholarships to children of low-income families. 

One such nonprofit SFO is Step Up For Students.  Step Up traces its roots to 1998 and currently serves over 106,000 students in over 1800 private schools.

Step Up For Students serves three schools In Key West; Grace Lutheran School, Montessori Children’s School and The Basilica School of St. Mary Star of the Sea.

Tenants of commercial rental properties must apply with the Florida Department of Revenue. It’s simple:

  1. Go to https://taxapps.floridarevenue.com/CommercialRentalScholarship and fill out the online application.
  2. The Florida Department of Revenue sends you a letter telling you what amount of your business rent taxes ($1000, $2000, etc.) you can send to the SFO. 
  3. At tax time, send this amount to the SFO.
  4. The SFO sends a letter to you acknowledging your donation.
  5. Give a copy of the Florida Department of Revenue letter and the letter from the SFO to the property owner.
  6. The property owner submits both of these letters to the State when they submit their taxes.

Final note. In fiscal year 2018 – 2019 the donated taxes will only go to the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship.  Thereafter, redirected taxes will first go to the Gardiner Scholarship and then to the FTC Scholarship.

 

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