Florida Unemployment

Florida Unemployment, Florida businesses are not satisfied with a large increase in unemployment compensation taxes. Taxes have risen sharply over the past two years, because many people have lost their jobs and began collecting unemployment benefits.

Companies are now looking at another big tax increase and are desperately seeking an idea to ease the pain of taxes.

Florida businesses currently pay an unemployment rate of a minimum tax of 72.10 per employee. Just two years ago, that the tax was only 8.40 and an employee.

Now it looks as if that rate could reach 200 and 2012 and is doing business in Florida nervous.

“It will potentially play havoc here in Florida and the Florida employers, when we are trying to get out of this hole we’re in right now with unemployment and terrible economy. Therefore, this will be very detrimental to Florida employers, “said Brewster Bevis of Associated Industries of Florida.

Florida ended up in this situation due to unemployment compensation trust fund went bankrupt in 2009, as it did in many states, due to an increase in unemployment. Therefore, states including Florida have been borrowing money from the federal government to maintain payment of unemployment benefits.

Florida loans from federal and peaked at 2.6 billion. Around one billion has been paid, but the tab and is at 1.6 billion and all this must be paid by companies in Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott says he wants to minimize the impact.

“I do not do anything to raise the cost of doing business in the state. I want to keep it as low as possible, because the work of the impacts. So the most important is employment, jobs, jobs.”

The companies want the state to borrow money to repay the loan so they can pay in installments. Bevis said that the state could create an entity to issue bonds that would be paid by the private sector.

He says Idaho already made, and more states are considering the idea. “We have to look at other ways to take care of this debt and alleviate the pressure on Florida employers.”

The Florida federal government forgave all interest on loans for unemployment compensation made before 2011.

When asked if he would consider asking the feds to forgive those future interest payments, or perhaps the entire debt, Gov. Scott said at least consider the idea – an interesting response considering Scott has already rejected the federal money for high-speed trains and services.