Poll: 68 Percent of Florida Voters Support State Earned Income Tax Credit

New poll finds a 48-point margin of support for enacting a tax rebate for working families

‍ORLANDO, Fla. – By roughly a 3-to-1 margin, Florida voters support implementing a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — also called a working families tax rebate or working Floridians tax rebate — for workers and working families with low- to moderate-income, according to a new Florida Policy Institute (FPI) poll.

The survey of 1,892 likely Florida voters, which was conducted by Data for Progress from May 21-June 2 using SMS and web panel respondents, finds that 68 percent either strongly or somewhat support implementing a state EITC.

The poll found that the proposal is consistently popular among Black, Latina/o, and white voters, as well as among voters living in rural, urban, and suburban settings.

“It’s clear that there’s an appetite in Florida for tax relief targeted to those hit hardest by the pandemic and recession,” said Sadaf Knight, CEO of FPI.  “Not only would a working Floridians tax rebate help Sunshine State families buy food, put gas in their cars, and make rent or mortgage payments, but it would also inject dollars back into local economies and start to address Florida’s upside-down tax system, which asks those who make the least to pay the most in state and local taxes, as a share of their income.”

In 2018, nationwide, the EITC lifted about 5.6 million people out of poverty, including 3 million children. The tax credit also brought $5.3 billion back to 2.1 million Florida households in 2019, with an average credit of $2,500, according to IRS data.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted some version of a state EITC, pegged at a percentage of the federal credit, to further boost income for working families.

“This type of tax rebate makes a lot more sense than sales tax holidays, which provide little relief to people struggling to make ends meet,” added Knight.

FPI is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing state policies and budgets that improve the economic mobility and quality of life for all Floridians.