For any governor, luring business to their state is a top priority.  New businesses bring new opportunities for growth among communities and job creation.

Florida Governor Rick Scott is no different.  Governor Scott has been known to travel to other states in an attempt to convince companies to relocate to Florida.

But there are certain Florida laws that impede those moves from happening.  Case and point:  the taxing of commercial leases.

During a recent speech, the Republican governor pushed to get rid of the tax saying, “Florida is the only state in the nation to tax commercial leases.”

PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a TRUE rating on the PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter.

PolitiFact writer Allison Graves said the governor got his information from the non-partisan research arm of the Florida legislature, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.

Not only did a memorandum from OPPAGA confirm the statement, it also went into more detail.

“It also examined other municipalities with similar taxes and it found that no other place had one quite as comprehensive as Florida’s,” Graves said.

For that reason, Governor Scott’s claim received a TRUE rating.

SOURCES:  Florida taxes commercial leases

  • Email exchange with Lauren Schenone, Scott spokeswoman, Feb. 7, 2017
  • Interview, Jerry Donnini, a partner of the Florida based Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, March 7, 2017.
  • Interview, Kurt Wenner, vice president of research, Florida TaxWatch, March 7
  • Email exchange, Norton Francis, senior research associate at the Tax Policy Center, Feb. 7
  • Email exchange, Cecily Millan, BOMA Association Executive (BAE), Feb. 8
  • Email exchange, Carla Markowitz, attorney at Law at Commercial Landlord Representation, March 8
  • Email exchange, Abigail Grenadier, staff assistant for The Real Estate Roundtable, March 8
  • Governor Rick Scott’s 2017-2018 Budget, "Fighting For Florida’s Future"
  • PolitiFact Florida, Scott-O-Meter: "Scott, lawmakers want to alter sales tax on commercial rents," Jan. 4, 2016.
  • Florida TaxWatch, "REDUCING THE BUSINESS RENT TAX," Oct. 2015.
  • Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, P.A. "IS RENT SUBJECT TO FLORIDA SALES TAX?"  Jan 26, 2015
  • Florida Department of Revenue, "Sales and Use Tax on Commercial Real Property Rentals."