The South Florida Sun Sentinel did a great story analyzing the House tax proposal that would raise state sales tax to 8.5 percent.
Jonathan Hamilton, chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Florida. says it impacts young people more than other age groups.
He says the reason is that Florida does not tax services, such as the services of a lawyer or an accountant. He notes that incomes usually rise with age and “higher-income people spend more on services than lower-income people,” he said. Lower-income younger people, then, would be buying more taxable goods furnishing their apartments, for example.
Economists who work for the Florida Legislature say locals are more impacted than tourists
That study found that Florida residents pay about three-quarters of the sales tax, that study said. The other 25 percent is paid by tourists and out-of-state businesses and families.
According to Frank Williams, an economist for the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, people who aren’t retired pay a greater proportion of their income in sales taxes than retirees.
“The burden of retirees was about half that of working families,” Williams said. “They don’t buy as many taxable goods.”
Read article:Some Floridians likely to benefit more than others if House plan passes