Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy: Florida’s Tax Structure Fails Tests for Fairness, Efficiency and Simplicity
ITEP Work in ActionEconomists, public administration professionals, and governmental experts agree on several requirements for a sound tax system at any level of government. These requirements include adequacy, fairness, efficiency, and simplicity. The National Conference on State Legislatures includes the last three of these in their publication entitled “Principles of a High-Quality State Revenue System.” They did not include the issue of adequacy. That is a subjective determination and is best left to the political side of governance.
The first three major requirements are more objective and can be analyzed from an apolitical standpoint. When such an analysis is conducted on Florida’s system, it fails in all three areas.