Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) charged in an op-ed Friday that the Florida legislature should end Disney’s $600 million tax cheat loophole.
Gaetz explained in an op-ed that Walt Disney Corporation benefits from a Florida tax code loophole that has allowed Disney to potentially skirt around hundreds of millions of dollars in state corporate income taxes. To fix this loophole, Gaetz, a former Florida House chairman of Finance and Tax, wrote that Florida should join the majority of states in adopting combined reporting of state corporate income taxes.
The Florida conservative explained:
This allows Florida to fully realize Disney’s corporate income taxes from as a proportion of their overall, or “combined” reported income. The nonpartisan Florida Revenue Estimating Conference says that this measure would have a recurring impact of $591.7 million on Florida’s budget. That’s $591.7 million that Florida Man and Florida Woman have to shoulder because Disney has fancy lawyers, lobbyists and accountants.
If Mickey’s ears are purchased in Orlando, that revenue shouldn’t find itself taxable in Delaware through nifty accounting and outdated laws. Combined reporting is hardly a tool of liberals. Even Texas made the obvious change to protect the pocketbooks of its own citizens.
He said combined reporting of state income taxes would provide “accurate and fair reporting on taxable income to the IRS.”
“The Walt Disney Company, which grossed $72.9 billion last year, should be accurately reporting its income in the states and countries where its business is conducted,” Gaetz said.
(Handout/Getty Images)
Gaetz called on Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature to address this taxation disparity.
“I envision a Sunshine State where all corporations play fair and, consequentially, hard-working Floridians pay less in taxes, the Florida conservative said. “I hope you join me, as I call on both Democrats and Republicans in the Florida Legislature to act now and end the Disney tax loophole.”
Disney has opposed Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Parental Rights in Education Act and has pushed “many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in its stories.”
Other Republicans have proposed measures to fight back against Disney’s LBGT campaign.
House Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) said he will fight to rescind Mickey Mouse’s copyright renewal.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.