Florida Florida Statutes

§ 212.098 — Rural Job Tax Credit Program

FS § 212.098Ch. 212

Statute text

(1)As used in this section, the term:(a) “Eligible business” means any sole proprietorship, firm, partnership, or corporation that is located in a qualified county and is predominantly engaged in, or is headquarters for a business predominantly engaged in, activities usually provided for consideration by firms classified within the following standard industrial classifications: SIC 01-SIC 09 (agriculture, forestry, and fishing); SIC 20-SIC 39 (manufacturing); SIC 422 (public warehousing and storage); SIC 70 (hotels and other lodging places); SIC 7391 (research and development); SIC 781 (motion picture production and allied services); SIC 7992 (public golf courses); and SIC 7996 (amusement parks). A call center or similar customer service operation that services a multistate market or an international market is also an eligible business. In addition, the Department of Commerce may, as part of its final budget request submitted pursuant to s. 216.023, recommend additions to or deletions from the list of standard industrial classifications used to determine an eligible business, and the Legislature may implement such recommendations. Excluded from eligible receipts are receipts from retail sales, except such receipts for hotels and other lodging places classified in SIC 70, public golf courses in SIC 7992, and amusement parks in SIC 7996. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “predominantly” means that more than 50 percent of the business's gross receipts from all sources is generated by those activities usually provided for consideration by firms in the specified standard industrial classification. The determination of whether the business is located in a qualified county and the tier ranking of that county must be based on the date of application for the credit under this section. Commonly owned and controlled entities are to be considered a single business entity.

(b)“Qualified employee” means any employee of an eligible business who performs duties in connection with the operations of the business on a regular, full-time basis for an average of at least 36 hours per week for at least 3 months within the qualified county in which the eligible business is located. The term also includes an employee leased from an employee leasing company licensed under chapter 468, if such employee has been continuously leased to the employer for an average of at least 36 hours per week for more than 6 months. An owner or partner of the eligible business is not a qualified employee.

(c)“Qualified area” means any area that is contained within a rural area of opportunity designated under s. 288.0656, a county that has a population of fewer than 75,000 persons, or a county that has a population of 125,000 or less and is contiguous to a county that has a population of less than 75,000, selected in the following manner: every third year, the Department of Commerce shall rank and tier the state's counties according to the following four factors:1. Highest unemployment rate for the most recent 36-month period. 2. Lowest per capita income for the most recent 36-month period. 3. Highest percentage of residents whose incomes are below the poverty level, based upon the most recent data available. 4. Average weekly manufacturing wage, based upon the most recent data available.

(d)“New business” means any eligible business first beginning operation on a site in a qualified county and clearly separate from any other commercial or business operation of the business entity within a qualified county. A business entity that operated an eligible business within a qualified county within the 48 months before the period provided for application by subsection (2) is not considered a new business.

(e)“Existing business” means any eligible business that does not meet the criteria for a new business.

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Legislative history

s. 2, ch. 97-50; s. 11, ch. 98-342; s. 87, ch. 99-251; s. 3, ch. 99-342; s. 57, ch. 2000-165; s. 16, ch. 2000-210; s. 3, ch. 2001-106; s. 4, ch. 2001-201; s. 24, ch. 2002-218; s. 5, ch. 2009-51; s. 33, ch. 2010-5; s. 78, ch. 2011-142; s. 15, ch. 2013-18; ss. 2, 28, ch. 2014-218; s. 16, ch. 2023-173; s. 49, ch. 2024-6.