Florida Sales Tax Holiday: Know This Before You Go Shopping

Florida’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday is in full swing now. This Florida Sales Tax Holiday started Monday, July 24 and will continue until Sunday, August 6. The Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday gives families an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming school year by providing them with an extended period of tax-free shopping.

Florida Sales Tax Holiday: What Is It?

With the start of a new school year inching closer, parents are busy stocking up on school supplies. However, with inflation still unreasonably high, many families are struggling to meet their needs.

To help families, Florida has created two Back-to-School Sales Tax Holidays. The first one has already started, while the second is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2024, through Jan. 14, 2024.

Florida’s tax holiday comes when chains like Target, Office Depot, Best Buy, and Kohl’s have already announced back-to-school sales. So, it is a great time for families to save money by taking advantage of the Florida Sales Tax Holiday and back-to-school sales.

The National Retail Federation estimates an average American family will spend a minimum of $864 for preparation of the new school year, an increase of $15 from last year and up $168 since 2019. This estimate includes spending on clothing, school supplies and electronics.

It must be noted that the Florida Sales Tax Holiday also applies to purchases made online. Eligible items will be exempt from sales tax if the online order is accepted within the tax holiday period. The delivery can be made after the end of the tax holiday period.

“Sales tax holidays may be applied to sales sold by Amazon.com and its affiliates, including marketplace sellers,” Amazon says.

What Items Qualify For The Tax Holiday

The first Florida Sales Tax Holiday allows families to prepare for the upcoming school year by saving on essential purchases. During the tax holiday, the state has waived the 7.02% sales tax (and any local option taxes) on several back-to-school items.

Items eligible for tax holiday are clothing, school supplies, footwear, learning aids, certain accessories, jigsaw puzzles and personal computers or related accessories for personal or home use.

It must be noted that not all items listed above qualify for the tax holiday. The tax holiday is available on clothing, footwear, and certain accessories carrying a sales price of $100 or less.

Similarly, certain school supplies with a sales price of $50 or less; learning aids and jigsaw puzzles with a sales price of $30 or less; and personal computers and certain related accessories with a sales price of $1,500 or less, are eligible for tax holiday.

Eligible items under school supplies include lunch boxes, notebooks, calculators, crayons, pens, colored pencils and more. Eligible items under learning aids and jigsaw puzzles include memory games, puzzle books, electronic or interactive books, search-and-find books, flashcards and toys that help to enhance reading or math skills.

For more details on the Florida Sales Tax Holiday, including a comprehensive list of tax-exempt items, visit this link.

This article originally appeared on ValueWalk

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