With the help of an Orlando lawmaker, a local bail bonds company is lobbying the Florida Legislature for a new tax break.
The company, Accredited Surety and Casualty Company Inc. of Orlando, wants lawmakers to slash the effective tax rate it and other bail underwriters pay in Florida insurance-premium taxes from more than 20 percent to less than 2 percent.
Accredited and other boosters say the move would make it easier for it and other Florida-based bail underwriters to grow and compete around the country. They also say it would make Florida more attractive to out-of-state insurers thinking about moving their headquarters.
The legislation is part of a broader lobbying campaign by the national bail bond industry to persuade states to change the way they calculate taxes on bail bond insurance. The Texas Legislature enacted a similar change last year.
The change would cost Florida taxpayers approximately $700,000 a year, according to state economists.
The House version of the tax cut (HB 939), which is scheduled for a hearing this morning in the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee, is being sponsored by Orlando Democratic Rep.Linda Stewart, a former Orange County commissioner. Stewart said the bill was brought to her by Accredited Surety President Deborah Jallad, whose family has long been active in Orange County politics.
Click here for the story in the Orlando Sentinel.
