Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote an opinion piece describing how Walt Disney Company has taken advantage of a loophole in Florida’s tax code, allowing the corporation to avoid paying millions of dollars in state income taxes on corporate income. Gaetz was the previous chairman of Florida’s Finance and Tax department and recommended that Florida adopt a system of combined reporting for the state’s corporate taxes.
If Florida fully recognizes Disney's corporate tax in the form of an amount (combined income), the Florida resident will have to pay an additional $591.7 million, due to the fact that Disney has numerous accountants, lobbyists, and lawyers. The ears that Mickey bought in Orlando are not tax-free in Delaware due to old accounting practices and clever laws (Texas made the right decision to protect the wallets of its citizens). Gaetz said that joint reporting of income taxes from all states will provide “accurate and fair reporting of taxable income to [the] IRS.”
Gaetz stated that the Walt Disney Company should accurately disclose its earnings across every country and state in which it conducts business. The company earned $72.9 billion in the last fiscal year. He has urged both Republicans and Democrats to work together at state legislative levels to reduce these disparities.
The Florida conservative has said that he wants to create a state of Florida that is truly a Sunshine State, where all corporations pay fairly, and Floridians who work hard pay lower taxes. Gaetz's stance illustrates how Republicans are taking on corporations' “woke” crusades. Disney opposed Governor Ron DeSantis on the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Other Republicans have also offered suggestions that would stop the Disney LGBT campaign. For example, Jim Banks (chairman of the House Republican Study Committee) declared that he will fight to block Mickey Mouse's copyright renewal.
