Legislators roll back corporate taxes for small businesses

With back-slapping praise — and Republicans applauding Democrats — the Florida House on Thursday sent a $30 million corporate income tax cut to Gov. Rick Scott.

The House voted 110-5 for a tax break of $1,100 a year on average for 15,000 small businesses as Republicans vowed that it will be the first step in a multi-year effort to cut the state’s annual $2 billion corporate tax.

The tax cut won bi-partisan support as several Democrats and all 81 Republicans in the House argued that the measure will help small businesses.

The proposal was sent to Scott, who made it a campaign pledge to eliminate Florida’s 40-year-old corporate income tax. While the measure is only a fraction of the $459 million in corporate income tax cuts sought by the governor this year, it was hailed by legislators as an incentive for job development.