Business backers aim to kill state's intangibles tax. (Florida)

Foes claim it hurts bids to lure out-of-state firms

Florida's beleaguered intangibles tax soon could lose its bite.

Several state legislators are trying to reign in the 67-year-old tax on stocks, bonds, loans and accounts receivable.

Critics of the tax blame it for keeping out employers. The tax persuaded at least two companies not to move to Florida, according to the economic development group Enterprise Florida.

What's more, the tax includes loopholes big enough to move a billion-dollar portfolio through. Every year, Fort Lauderdale mogul Wayne Huizenga and others transfer their holdings of stocks and bonds into out-of-state trusts in a legal maneuver to avoid the tax.

Such flaws have led some to call for the death of the intangibles tax altogether. There's one detail that keeps it alive: The tax generates about $1.1 billion a year, …