Rick Scott broke promise to get rid of corporate taxes

Former businessman turned politician Rick Scott vowed in 2010 if elected governor he would get rid of the state’s corporate income tax over seven years.

But the state Legislature did not see eye-to-eye with Scott, leading to his failure to deliver on this promise.

We have been tracking Scott’s promise to nix the tax for his two terms. Early in his tenure, the Legislature rejected Scott’s idea of slashing the corporate income tax rate from 5.5 percent to 3 percent. So Scott instead aimed to exempt more business income from being subject to the tax.

In 2011, the Legislature increased the exemption from $5,000 to $25,000. In 2012, they moved the exemption up to $50,000.

The state corporate tax currently generates about $2.5 billion a year. Due to the exemptions, most businesses, however, are exempt from paying the tax.

If Florida had gotten rid of the corporate tax entirely it would have been an outlier because the majority of states levy a corporate income tax.

Scott was able to chip away at the tax, but he promised to “fully” phase it out and the tax still remains in Florida. We rate this Promise Broken.