Miami, FL – The Florida Legislature has passed a bill to impose a tax on all Miami real estate transactions that are subject to a home’s property tax, and it has passed the state House and Senate.
The legislation was signed by Gov.
Rick Scott on Friday, making Florida the second state in the country to enact a similar measure.
It will be formally introduced next week, according to The Associated Press.
The measure will raise $1.2 billion over the next five years and add an additional $200 million to the budget, according the Florida Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan non-profit that advocates for taxpayers.
The bill also mandates that home sellers and mortgage lenders pay the property tax for every home they sell, regardless of the value of the home.
The new law is the latest effort by Florida lawmakers to impose tax on the real estate industry, a trend that began in the 1990s and peaked in Florida in 2016, when the state began taxing home sales at a rate of 8.75 percent.
The tax is a part of a broader push by Republican Gov.
Scott to limit what he calls the “flood of luxury” in the state, which he says is driven by the city’s booming economy.
The Florida Senate has approved a bill that would impose a state sales tax of 8 percent on all transactions that do not require a buyer to pay a property tax.
The House has passed legislation that would levy a 3 percent tax on transactions where a property is transferred for tax purposes to the buyer.