Coronavirus costs Florida $878 million in revenue in just one month
State revenue was off $878.1 million in April from an earlier estimate as tourism- and hospitality-related industries, along with car sales, were grounded by the coronavirus, according to economists.
A monthly revenue report from the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research reflects economic damage caused by the pandemic and the effects of stay-at-home orders on state tax revenues.
“The presence of coronavirus in Florida presented its most serious threat to the sales tax forecast, especially to those taxes collected from tourists,” the report, released Tuesday, said. “In addition, critical supply chains were already interrupted by the impact to other countries and retail sales displaced as a result of social distancing and crowd-avoidance behaviors.”