Miami-Dade Grand Jury: Increasing Merchants’ Sales Tax Remittance Compliance Could ‘Singlehandedly’ Balance Two-Thirds of Florida’s Budget
Feb 8, 2011
In a report issued yesterday, February 7, 2011, an Eleventh Circuit Court Miami-Dade Grand Jury states that, by capturing the $2 billion in sales tax revenue that is currently in the possession of merchant tax collectors, the Florida Department of Revenue (“DOR”) could “singlehandedly” reduce the State’s impending budget shortfall for this fiscal year by two-thirds.
In an investigation conducted as part of preparing its report, the Grand Jury determined that “a number of” merchants throughout the State of Florida are pocketing tax money collected from their customers.
The report reviews how sales and use taxes are collected in Florida, as well as makes recommendations to the Florida Legislature and the DOR on what can be done to increase the amount of tax that the DOR is collecting and capturing. The report concludes by proposing changes to the system that would be expected to increase the detection, arrest and prosecution of tax cheats.
To view the complete report, click here.
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