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| Horticultural & Tropical Products Division | Return to the H&TP Home Page |
April 12, 2002
FLORIDA COURT ORDERS REMEDY TO CITRUS EQUALIZATION TAX
On April 4, 2002, the
10th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida ordered the Florida Citrus Commission to
propose a remedy in the Equalization Tax case.
The court had ruled on March 15 that the equalization tax was
unconstitutional because it illegally discriminated against foreign citrus
products imported into Florida while it exempted imported juice products from
other states, mostly California. Based
on the ruling, the court was asked to order the Florida Department of Citrus
(FDOC) to refund nearly $10 million in equalization taxes to its clients, the
amount that the plaintiffs in the case have paid since filing the lawsuits in
late 2000 and early 2001, plus 3 years in back taxes (the period of time limited
by Florida tax laws.) Under a 1990
Supreme Court decision, the 10th District Court must give the Florida Citrus
Commission the first opportunity to propose a remedy. The court gave the Citrus Commission until July to come up
with a remedy. The remedy could
include a complete refund to companies that paid the tax, back taxes against the
companies' competitors who benefited from the tax exemption, or a remedy
involving a combination of a tax refund and back taxes.
In the wake of the court's March 15 ruling, the Florida legislature
removed the tax exemption for domestic juice, with the new law scheduled to go
into effect July 1, 2002.
SOLICITOR GENERAL WILL NOT APPEAL COURT RULING
AGAINST ARGENTINE CITRUS
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