One of Stand Up Florida’s most effective campaigns revolved around repealing the state’s unique and unfair tax on commercial rent. Florida is the only state in the nation to charge small business owners a tax simply for the privilege of renting a storefront.
During COVID, many small businesses couldn’t afford rent, let alone the 5.5% tax on commercial rent that they were being forced to pay. We were determined to bring an end to it.
Before we became involved, the issue was stuck at the capitol. Stand Up Florida helped turn that around by bringing attention to the unfair burden so lawmakers would do something about it.
Our petition to repeal the tax reached 130,000 Floridians and generated more than 2,000 new earned audience members at a cost of $1.40 per lead – less than half the benchmark cost for a new opt-in.
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law which dropped the commercial rent tax from 5.5% to 2%, which will save Floridians approximately $1 billion annually. This law also calls for the tax to be cut completely once the state reaches financial goals related to COVID recovery.
By bringing attention to this unreasonable tax, we were able to help save Floridians a great deal now – and even more in the future.