Florida State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in Florida, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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What project-income method did Florida approve for the Capital Investment Tax Credit in TAA 24C1-003?
Florida approved treating the difference between the group's annual corporate income tax and a five-year average imputed tax liability as project tax. The average used a 5.5% rate on tentative apporti…
Could the affiliated group stop filing Florida consolidated returns under TAA 24C1-002?
Yes. Florida found sufficient reasonable cause based on significant changes in the group's business and granted permission to discontinue consolidated corporate income tax returns, subject to four con…
Could the parent combine its current and grandfather-elected Florida groups into one consolidated return, and carry their prior net operating losses into it?
Yes. The group qualified for a new consolidated election beginning with tax year 2021. Prior member NOLs could be used under the Internal Revenue Code and Chapter 220 without extra Florida limitations…
Did the parent company show reasonable cause to stop filing consolidated Florida corporate income tax returns?
Yes. Major changes in the company's operations, service offerings, and revenue mix since its original election justified deconsolidation, subject to four conditions stated in the ruling.
Could an affiliated group stop filing Florida consolidated corporate income tax returns after major changes in its business and operations?
Yes. Florida found the group's substantial growth, acquisitions, market expansion, and operational changes sufficient to permit deconsolidation, subject to four conditions.
Could a longstanding Florida consolidated group switch to separate returns after substantial growth and changes in business focus?
Yes. The Department found that the group's substantial growth, acquisitions, expanded product line, and changed business focus were sufficient good cause to discontinue consolidated filing. Permission…
Could an acquired corporation stop filing Florida consolidated returns after its former affiliated group ended and the new parent filed separately?
Yes. The acquisition ended the taxpayer's former affiliated group and nullified its prior consolidated filing election. Because the acquiring parent filed separately and had never made a Florida conso…
How could a consolidated Florida corporate group calculate income and tax liability generated by its Capital Investment Tax Credit project?
Florida approved a pro forma consolidated-return method. The group would start with reported consolidated federal taxable income, make the described Florida and extraordinary-item adjustments, and app…
Could a parent corporation end a Florida consolidated filing election by arguing years later that it mistakenly lacked nexus when it elected?
No. Although the parent may not have had nexus when it made the election, Florida would not retrospectively nullify the longstanding consolidated filing election on that basis. The group had to contin…
What conditions had to be met for an affiliated group to make a Florida consolidated corporate income-tax filing election?
The parent had to have Florida nexus when the election was made; the Florida group had to match the federal consolidated group; every member had to consent; and the consolidated return had to be filed…
Could a Florida consolidated group switch to separate returns after substantial expansion through new products, markets, locations, and acquisitions?
Yes. Florida found that the group's expanded operations, products, markets, sales, and acquisitions were a sufficient change in business circumstances. Permission was subject to four redacted conditio…
Could a parent company stop filing Florida consolidated returns after an acquisition ended its former affiliated group?
Yes. Florida granted permission because the complete acquisition ended the taxpayer's former affiliated group and nullified its prior consolidated election. The taxpayer and members of its former grou…
Could a parent stop filing Florida consolidated returns after an acquisition ended the affiliated group that made the election?
Yes. Florida granted permission because the acquisition ended the taxpayer's former affiliated group and nullified its consolidated filing election. The taxpayer and members of its former group could …
Could an acquired company stop filing Florida consolidated returns after its original affiliated group ceased to exist in a merger?
Yes, subject to three conditions. The acquisition and merger ended the taxpayer's original affiliated group, and the surviving entity became part of a new parent's group that filed separate Florida re…
How could a consolidated Florida taxpayer revise its method for calculating income and tax from a Capital Investment Tax Credit project?
Florida approved a revised pro forma method. The taxpayer would compute separate-company Florida taxable income using its apportionment fraction, apply the corporate tax rate, multiply that liability …
Could an acquired parent discontinue Florida consolidated filing when its old group ceased to exist but its request was late for the first year?
Only prospectively. Florida found good cause because the acquisition ended the taxpayer's old affiliated group and it was no longer the common parent. But the request missed the rule's 90-day deadline…
How did Florida correct the final consolidated and first separate filing periods after an acquisition ended the taxpayer's old group?
Florida corrected its earlier ruling to require two short-period filings: a final consolidated return under the old election, followed by separate returns for the former parent and affiliates aligned …
Could a Florida consolidated group discontinue filing after substantial changes in business focus, growth, acquisitions, and international reach?
Yes. Florida found reasonable cause because the group's business focus had shifted and its size, acquisitions, research investment, international activity, and geographic footprint had changed substan…
Could an acquired Florida consolidated group deconsolidate after the former common parent became a subsidiary of an unrelated separate-filing parent?
Yes. The unrelated acquisition ended the taxpayer's old consolidated group because it was no longer the common parent. Its members joined a new parent's affiliated group whose Florida election was sep…
Could a Florida consolidated group deconsolidate after major shifts in business strategy, composition, growth, acquisitions, and divestitures?
Yes. Florida found reasonable cause because the group's business focus, external reporting, membership, acquisitions, divestitures, growth, and geographic footprint had changed substantially since the…
May a Florida consolidated corporate group stop filing consolidated returns after an unrelated parent acquires the group?
Yes—and on these facts the former group could no longer file a Florida consolidated return. The unrelated-parent acquisition terminated the old affiliated group, and the acquired companies became subj…
Could a Florida insurance-company group discontinue its longstanding grandfathered consolidated corporate income tax filing?
Yes. Florida allowed the group to file separately for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, but required deferred gains and intercompany or other deferred items that could escape separate r…
Should gross receipts from product sales between members of a Florida consolidated group be included in the sales factor?
Yes on these facts. The intercompany transactions involved transfer of title, consideration, actual delivery, an identifiable sales destination, and gross profit recorded in separate affiliate account…
Could a Florida consolidated group keep filing after a reorganization placed its former parent and subsidiaries under another U.S. parent?
No. The reorganization caused the taxpayer's former affiliated group to cease existing on December 31, 2016, so it could not file Florida consolidated returns for tax years beginning on or after Janua…
How should a consolidated Florida filer calculate income and tax from a qualifying Capital Investment Tax Credit project?
Prepare a pro forma calculation comparing current-year income with the redacted base year, treat the increase as project income, apply the project's separate-company Florida apportionment factor, and …
Did extensive growth and changes in a corporate group's business focus and product lines justify Florida deconsolidation?
Yes. The group's substantial growth and major expansion of its activities, business focus, and product lines established good cause to stop filing consolidated Florida returns. The approval imposed co…
Did major restructuring, acquisitions, sales growth, and expanding markets justify ending a Florida consolidated-return election?
Yes. The group's substantial restructuring, acquisitions, exponential sales growth, and expanding markets established good cause to stop filing consolidated Florida returns. Permission was conditioned…
How would a consolidated Florida taxpayer calculate income and tax generated by a project for the Capital Investment Tax Credit?
The taxpayer had to prepare a project-only pro forma return, apply GAAP and Florida taxable-income rules, apportion that income using only project-related factors, and apply the 5.5% rate stated in th…
Could an acquired taxpayer stop filing Florida consolidated returns when its old affiliated group ceased to exist?
Yes. The unrelated parent's acquisition caused the taxpayer's former affiliated group to cease existing under the federal group rules Florida follows. The taxpayer and subsidiaries could no longer fil…
Could an acquired corporation stop filing its former Florida consolidated return after the old affiliated group terminated?
Yes. The unrelated stock acquisition caused the taxpayer's former affiliated group to cease existing under the federal group rules Florida follows, so the old consolidated filing could not continue.
Could an affiliated group stop filing Florida consolidated returns after ending its former business and changing its business focus?
Yes. Ending the healthcare business and shifting the group's business focus supplied good cause to deconsolidate. Because the request missed the rule's advance deadline, however, separate filing began…
Could an acquired corporation stop its former Florida consolidated filing after an unrelated purchaser terminated the old group?
Yes. The unrelated purchaser's acquisition caused the taxpayer's former affiliated group to cease existing under the federal rules Florida follows, eliminating the old consolidated filing requirement.
Could a parent company stop filing consolidated Florida corporate income-tax returns after major changes in its business circumstances?
Yes. Major changes in supply, administration, customers, acquisitions, products, and business focus established good cause to discontinue consolidated filing, subject to five stated conditions.
Could a consolidated group use a Florida jobs-change factor to calculate income from a certified Capital Investment Tax Credit project?
Yes. The Department approved multiplying the affiliated group's Florida adjusted federal income by a jobs-change factor: project new-to-Florida jobs divided by all group professionals employed in Flor…
Could an expanded Capital Investment Tax Credit project treat all of the taxpayer's income apportioned to Florida as project income?
Yes. After the certified project expanded, the Department agreed that the taxpayer's entire Florida portion of adjusted federal income would be project income, subject to GAAP, section 220.13, annual …
Could an affiliated group stop filing consolidated Florida returns after substantial growth and changes in business focus?
Yes. The group's changed business focus, divestitures, spin-off, and operational growth established good cause to stop consolidated filing, subject to four stated conditions.
Could a corporation and its subsidiaries keep filing a Florida consolidated return after an unrelated parent acquired them?
No. The old affiliated group ceased to exist when the unrelated parent acquired it, and the acquired corporations became bound by the new parent's separate-filing election. Deferred items had to be re…
How should a consolidated corporation calculate project income for Florida's Capital Investment Tax Credit?
The company had to prepare pro forma project income under GAAP and Florida adjustments, apply the project's Florida apportionment fraction, and use the corporate tax rate to determine project tax liab…
Could a corporate group stop filing consolidated Florida returns after major divestitures, acquisitions, growth, and a changed business focus?
Yes. The combined changes in business focus and operational growth established good cause, but the request missed the 90-day deadline for the first year sought, so permission began in a later year and…
Could an acquired Florida corporate group stop consolidated filing, and who kept deferred depreciation subtractions?
Yes. The old affiliated group ceased to exist when an unrelated parent acquired it, so the former subgroup could not keep filing consolidated returns; each original asset purchaser retained its remain…
Could a Florida corporate group end consolidated filing after its businesses, revenue mix, and membership changed?
Yes. The Department found the group's changed business focus, service growth, acquisitions, divestitures, and altered membership were good cause, subject to four conditions.
Could a Florida corporate group stop filing consolidated returns after major changes in its business and group structure?
Yes. The Department found the group's substantial growth and changed business focus were good cause to discontinue consolidated filing, subject to effective-date and deferred-item conditions.
Could an acquired Florida consolidated group keep filing as a subgroup of its new parent's affiliated group?
No. The old affiliated group ceased to exist when an unrelated parent acquired it, and the acquired companies became bound by the new parent's separate-return election.
Which apportionment factor applies when computing the Capital Investment Tax Credit for a qualifying headquarters project?
Use an apportionment percentage based solely on the qualifying project's factors. The taxpayer could not use the overall consolidated apportionment factor of its entire affiliated group to compute the…
Could a corporation and its subsidiaries stop filing a Florida consolidated return after acquisition ended their former affiliated group?
Yes—and the former group was required to stop. The unrelated acquisition ended the old affiliated group, and the acquired companies could not file a Florida consolidated return as a subgroup of the ne…
Did substantial growth and changed business circumstances justify ending a group's Florida consolidated-return election?
Yes. The Department found the group's substantial growth was good cause and allowed separate filing beginning in 2012, subject to four conditions governing timing, unrecognized items, deferred gains, …
Could a student-loan group end its Florida consolidated-return election after federal law eliminated its former primary business?
Yes. Federal-law and business changes eliminated the group's historical core activity and sharply changed its Florida operations, establishing good cause for separate filing beginning in 2011, subject…
Could an acquired Florida consolidated corporate-income-tax group discontinue consolidated filing after becoming part of a new parent group that filed separately in Florida?
Yes. The acquisition ended the former group and constituted a qualifying change in circumstances. Deconsolidation was allowed for the specified tax year only if the old group had no realized but unrec…
Could a substantially larger and more diversified corporate group revoke its Florida consolidated-return election because its business circumstances had changed?
Yes, subject to conditions. The group's domestic-to-multinational growth and operational changes established good cause, but deconsolidation had a specified effective date, deferred or unrecognized in…
Could a multinational franchisor stop filing Florida consolidated returns after disproportionate international growth and major changes in business lines?
Yes. The changes made continued consolidated filing impractical, subject to four conditions: a specified effective date, no items escaping separate returns, no reentry into a Florida consolidated grou…
Could an acquired Florida parent-subsidiary group stop filing consolidated returns after joining a new affiliated group with no Florida consolidated election?
Yes. The ownership change ended the old affiliated group, and the acquired taxpayer became bound by the purchaser group's filing election. Permission applied from the specified tax year and required t…
Could a transformed corporate parent discontinue Florida consolidated filing because separate returns better reflected its changed business?
Yes, beginning with the 2010 year, subject to four conditions. Items could not escape separate returns, the group could not reenter Florida consolidation before 2015, and federally realized but deferr…
Could a Florida consolidated group retroactively escape its election by asserting years later that the former parent lacked nexus when the election was made?
No. The group had repeatedly filed and benefited from consolidated returns, supplied no clear evidence disproving original nexus, and provided none of the information required for good-cause deconsoli…
Could a Florida corporate parent stop filing consolidated income-tax returns after all subsidiaries merged into it or dissolved?
Yes. Florida granted permission because the four subsidiaries no longer existed and the parent was no longer part of an affiliated group. Future subsidiaries could reactivate or require a new consolid…
Could a corporate group end its grandfathered Florida nexus-group consolidated filing election after major business and structural changes?
Yes. Florida nullified the grandfathered election because the group had become substantially larger and more diverse. For later years it could file separately or elect a full consolidated return match…
Could a diversified corporate group stop filing Florida consolidated income-tax returns and switch to separate returns?
Yes, subject to four redacted-year conditions covering the effective date, intercompany and deferred items, a waiting period before reconsolidation, and recognition of deferred federal gains.
Could a dealership and leasing-management group discontinue Florida consolidated filing after major organizational and strategic changes?
Yes, effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, subject to no omitted intercompany or deferred items, no reconsolidation before the 2013 year, and full reporting of specified defer…
Could a corporate group abandon Florida's consolidated apportionment result in favor of separate accounting because the outcomes differed substantially?
No. The group had elected consolidated filing and did not prove the standard formula was arbitrary, grossly distorted, or taxed extraterritorial values. A less favorable result than separate accountin…
Could a long-standing Florida consolidated corporate group stop filing consolidated returns after major business and organizational changes?
Yes. Florida found good cause in the group's substantial changes since its original election: repeated acquisitions and mergers, new lines of business, major growth in sales, assets, income, employees…
Did a foreign corporate parent have Florida nexus allowing a 2007 consolidated-return election when an assistant secretary worked from Florida?
Yes. The parent corporation's assistant secretary permanently resided and worked in Florida and made management decisions there, including acquisition-related litigation updates, debt-covenant certifi…
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These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by Florida's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.