Taxes in Florida

hgrimmett · Nov 5, 2012

I do not have a percentage I can give you.. but I can give you some information. Florida is a right to work state so there are no unions here. or at least not very active ones. Other states are different. We have no state income tax, unlike most of the US. Still have to pay federal tax though. We do have a sales tax that you pay on things you buy, other than grocery store food.. Each county in Florida is different on that, but it averages out to around 7% of your total purchase price.

Benefits are going to vary depending on the type of employer you have and/or the employment contract.. if you are hired through an agency, you might have very limited or no medical benefits at all. If you are hired as a part time employee (working less than 32 hours a week, but it varies by employer) you might not get any medical benefits. You will pay a portion of the cost and the employer pays a portion. Again it will vary - if you have health insurance only, that's usually the biggest $ one. Vision and dental plans are usually separate plans from health insurance and will require additional fees. The -type- of health insurance will also affect the cost. My husband's last employer offered 8 different types of heath care plans for you to choose from, all with varying options.. but they only offered 1 dental and 1 vision plan, so you either went with those and paid for them or did without.

The state of Florida might hit you hard on fees to register your car if you are bringing one with you BTW (sorry, wasn't my idea.) The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles website would have the info on that.. it's complicated.

Good luck with the move.

DaveB · Nov 11, 2012

Thanks for the comment, I am in the same situation as the original poster and this was helpful.

FLOBRN · Nov 14, 2012

Ok here is what I know after having lived in central Florida.

Unions - The California Nurses association/ National Nurses United organized all the HCA (hospital corporation of america) hospitals in Florida. Pretty much no other hospitals are unionized. As a "Right to Work" state, you have NO protection if you do not have a contract. You can be terminated at any time for any or no reason.

Benefits- Health insurance - which you pay a portion of- usually starts 90 days after employment. Dental and vision are also available. I do not know of a hospital that offers what I would consider to be good coverage, but you take what the hospital offers. Private insurance is VERY expensive. When I changed locations to the west coast it was about $400/mo for a private policy.

Working conditions can range from intolerable to very good. It just depends on where you chose to be. I worked at Winter Haven Hospital and it was a good place.

Taxes - there are of course federal income tax but no state income tax. This can be negated by local sales, gas and other taxes. Still its less than you are used to.

You must remember, your taxes are currently high because your basic medical comes out of that.

Gas and housing will be cheaper.

Use a credit union not a bank. In my opinion you get more and there are no pesky bank fee's to deal with.

Florida is hot, and humid. You go from your airconditioned home to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned building. You cannot usually walk in the grass due to fire ants. The leaves fall in spring and strawberry season is Dec to April. It is subtropical so rains most of the days in summer.

Out of curiosity, why Florida and what is your specialty?

FLOBRN

Hi, I am an RN in Canada, planning to move to Florida asap as an RN. I am wondering how much you guys get taxed down there on your salaries, including unions, benefits etc.In Canada I am being taxed about 45% of my income if I calculate everything that they are taking out of my pay. Help!!!

Mcsteli · Nov 16, 2012

Hi Flobrn, Thank you for your comment, it really opens my eyes a bit more! Why Florida? Because my husband has to relocate for work and also because he is fed up of Canadian winters. We always wanted to move south of the border and Florida seems to have the weather we like, I wanted California but then we decided that Florida is closer to "home" so that we are a short flight away from our families (montreal). As for my specialty I am mostly specialized in Ortho but I have alot of experience in clinical teaching, assisstant manager, clinic nurse and some ER. i've been an RN for 8 years now and even though it seems like such a short time to me, my resume is saying something ele LOL.