TALLAHASSEE – Three bills providing real tax relief for Floridians and designed to keep money in the pockets of Florida’s taxpayers today passed out of their respective Councils and moved closer to final passage in the House.

The three bills- Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday, Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, and Abolishing the Doc Stamp Marriage Tax- are estimated to provide $58.4 million in total tax relief to Floridians.

“As a parent, I know how expensive it is to purchase the items for kids who are going back to school. My bill goes to the heart of our efforts to provide parents with tax relief so they have money to purchase the books, clothing, footwear and other items their children will need for school,” said Representative Marti Coley (R-Marianna), sponsor of HB 893. “This is a parent-friendly bill, and I’m pleased that it is moving forward.”

“Encouraging Floridians to prepare for hurricanes will help our state prepare for hurricane season,” said Representative Peter Nehr (R-Tarpon Springs), sponsor of HB 111. “A targeted tax exemption for purchases such as generators, batteries, coolers and other items related to hurricane preparation, HB 111 will be a one-two punch in helping to protect Floridians while keeping their hard-earned money in their pockets where it belongs. By doing so, we prosper as we prepare.”

“As the law stands, if a Floridian marries a homeowner and adds his or her name to the deed held by their spouse, they pay what is in essence a marriage tax,” said Representative Matt Hudson (R-Naples), sponsor of HB 647. “Yet the tax does not apply when a spouse is removed from a deed. The state is rewarding divorce and penalizing marriage. This common sense measure ends an unfair double taxation. While the bill won’t solve all our property tax problems, it is a small step toward restoring fairness to our current property tax system.”

“Each of these bills helps provide the tax relief we need to help make Florida affordable again,” stated Majority Leader Adam Hasner (R-Delray Beach). “These are commonsense pieces of legislation, which underscore that it’s the people’s money to begin with, and this targeted tax relief will help keep money in the hands of Floridians so they can spend it as they see fit and help get Florida’s economy going.”