Page 30 - Boca ViewPointe - August '23

Page 30, Viewpointe August 2023
Tax Talk

By Anne Gannon Current Florida Sales Tax Holidays
Dear Friends:
With the arrival of Back to School (most school supplies $50 and less, plus more!)
August, we find ourselves, www.floridarevenue.com/backtoschool/Pages/default.aspx July 24 to Aug. 6
once again, gearing up
for property tax season. It Freedom Summer (recreation and outdoor items)
all starts this month when www.floridarevenue.com/FreedomSummer/Pages/default.aspx Now to Sept. 4
the Palm Beach County
Property Appraiser sends Gas Ranges and Cooktops
out a TRIM (Truth-In- www.floridarevenue.com/GasStoves/Pages/default.aspx Now to June 30, 2024
Millage) Notice to all Home Hardening (impact resistant doors, windows, and garage doors)
property owners. This
notice contains the property’s value as of Jan. 1, the www.floridarevenue.com/HomeHardening/Pages/default.aspx Now to June 30, 2024
millage rates proposed by each local government entity, Energy Star (Energy Star appliances)
®
®
and finally, it contains an estimate of the proposed property
taxes. The TRIM Notice also contains information www.floridarevenue.com/ENERGYSTAR/Pages/default.aspx Now to June 30, 2024
about local governments’ budget hearings, providing
each property owner with the opportunity to attend and For more information on all sales tax holidays, visit www.floridarevenue.com/Pages/SalesTaxHolidays.aspx.
comment on the proposed millage rates. Then, by Nov. 1,
my office will send out more than 600,000 2023 tax bills • Tourist Development Tax collections were more such as bake sales and donation drives throughout the
to each property owner that must be paid by March 31. than $77,800,000 with April being the highest collection year. Our office remains dedicated to lending a helping
You can visit the Property Appraiser’s website at www. month? hand in the community and providing exceptional
pbcgov.org/papa for more information about the TRIM • Palm Beach County Tax Collector employees donated customer service for our clients.
Notice and the Value Adjustment Board appeals process. $17,594 to our two charity partners, Living Hungry and For more information on our community involvement, visit
So, watch your mail this month for your TRIM Notice Making Every Day Count. Employees also raised more www.pbctax.com/about-us/community-involvement/. 
from the Property Appraiser and then in early November, than $2,400 to our Tax Collector colleagues in both Lee
watch your mail for your tax bill sent by my office and and Charlotte Counties, who were impacted by Hurricane
remember to pay early and save! Ian in September 2022?
Anne M. Gannon, For more information about our office, visit www.
Constitutional Tax Collector, pbctax.com/annual-report.
Serving Palm Beach County
Out And About
Florida Sales Tax Holiday As an elected official and longtime resident of Palm

Savings! Beach County, it is my honor and a privilege to serve
this community. My community engagement team and
Going on now are several sales tax exemption holidays I are always available should you ever need anything
on several consumer items from washing machines and from our office. We take great pride in being active in
clothes dryers to tickets for live events and everything in the community and so far, this year, we have participated
between! During the sales tax holiday window, sales tax in more than 45 community events, ranging from the
is removed from the purchase of qualifying items. For Palm Beach Pride Festival to the Jupiter Jubilee, Black
example, during the home hardening sales tax holiday Gold Jubilee, and many more. Our goal is to work
impact resistant doors, garage doors and windows can be collaboratively within our communities to achieve
purchased without the addition of sales tax on the final longstanding and sustainable outcomes and implement
purchase price, but only during the specified dates (July processes to increase the efficiency of each transaction
1, 2023 to June 30, 2024). The same concept applies to for our clients.
all other sales tax holidays. Make sure to read about each Our dedication to driving positive change in the
tax holiday, some exclusions and parameters may apply. community extends well beyond our core services.
Every two years, our employees select two nonprofit
Report To Citizens organizations to support through our Community
Involvement Program. Every dollar raised and/or item
As we are near the end donated comes directly from our employees. This year’s
of another property tax charities are Living Hungry and Take Stock In Children
cycle, I’d like to share Serving Palm Beach County. In addition to supporting
some interesting facts with those initiatives, we also conduct fundraising activities
you about our office. Did
you know in 2021/22: DANGERS OF TRYING TO BE YOUR
• Over $4.4 billion
was distributed to local
taxing authorities with the OWN LAWYER
School District of Palm
Beach County receiving By Martin Zevin, Attorney asking for trouble.
the largest amount, more You have probably heard In October of 2011, the Florida Legislature passed a new
than $1.5 billion? the saying: “The lawyer who law regarding the Durable Power of Attorney. This law makes
• Our Client Care and Research Center answers more represents himself has a fool the document much more complicated and detailed than it
than 230,000 telephone calls a year and responds to more for a client.” If that is true, what used to be. I worked with other law firms for many months to
than 32,000 email inquiries. The No. 1 inquiries are about a non-lawyer who tries to create a proper document to conform to the complex new law.
driver’s license (calls) and property tax (email)? represent himself? It is highly unlikely that such a document (our current format
• Our website has more than 1.9 million visits yearly? In this age of the internet, is approximately 26 pages) is available on the internet.
I see many people attempting
Likewise, there is specific language regarding the Federal
• Our six service centers saw more than 719,000 clients. to prepare their own legal HIPAA Act which must be included in all Florida Designation
The Central Palm Beach Service Center in Greenacres documents. Typically, this of Health Care Surrogates to make them “HIPAA compliant.”
had the most visits with more than 198,000. The No. 1 involves accessing some do-it-yourself legal website which The correct language is not likely to exist on the generic Health
transaction was motor vehicle, more than 395,000? provides generic forms. These forms include the Durable Care Surrogate forms.
Power of Attorney, Designation of Health Care Surrogate, Regarding Revocable Living Trusts, attempts to create
Living Will, Quit Claim Deed, Revocable Living Trust and this document and then transfer property frequently results
Last Will and Testament. in a total mess which requires that a lawyer revoke all of the
In over forty years of experience as a Florida attorney, I have previous documents and start from scratch.
seen very few non-lawyers successfully create and properly There are individuals and companies that advertise
execute any of the above legal documents. Documents are themselves as paralegals and claim they are not providing legal
created and/or executed improperly, resulting in a legal can advice but only forms. In my opinion, it is virtually impossible
of worms. to provide a legal form without providing legal advice.
Deeds are a common example of where an attempt to save The bottom line is: there is no guarantee that hiring a
a few dollars in attorney’s fees results in what can often end up lawyer will mean a good result. However, you certainly
being major title defects. Properties are improperly transferred, stand a much better chance than doing it on your own.
thereby creating a defect in the title which needs to be corrected Please feel free to call me for a free phone consultation
either while someone is alive or during a probate process regarding any issues pertaining to Wills, Trusts and Estates.
after death. The defects can involve improper dates, names, I am also available for a free consultation regarding any
lack of proper witnessing and/or notarizing, incorrect legal issue pertaining to personal injury claims or car insurance
descriptions, etc. Lawyers make mistakes, too, particularly coverage. Call me at (954) 569-4878. My address is 3275
those who are not experienced in real estate. W. Hillsboro Blvd., Suite 204, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Each of our fifty states has its own unique set of laws. 33442. My website is www.martinzevinpa.com and my
Therefore, attempting to use a generic form for Florida is e-mail address is martinzevin@netzero.com.

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