Florida forgave $124.2 million in taxes and fines

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - For the third year in a row, Florida is giving up on collecting more than $100 million in taxes, fees and fines owed the state.

The amount of money the state is walking away from continues to grow. Data released this past month by a state agency shows that the state forgave $124.2 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Last year the state forgave $110.5 million.

A large portion written off by state officials was unpaid taxes, including sales taxes, corporate income taxes and unemployment taxes.

This year the state also closed the books on trying to collect back nearly $30.7 million that was overpaid to people receiving unemployment compensation checks. Some of these overpayments were made when the state's jobless rate was sharply rising.