Kenzie James
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The second half of summer is filled with sales tax holidays on different categories of items, starting with the Freedom Month Sales Tax Holiday starting on July 1. This holiday is followed by three more tax holidays through August and September: Back to School, Disaster Preparedness and Tool Time.
Perhaps one of the more well-known sales tax holidays, the Back to School Sales Tax Holiday will be from Monday, July 29 to Sunday, Aug. 11. Tax-exempted items during this holiday include learning aids and jigsaw puzzles; most school supplies; clothing, footwear and accessories; and computers and related accessories. The Back to School tax holiday offers an opportunity for parents and guardians of school-age children to stock up on their kids' school supplies for the year without the additional cost of sales tax.
The next sales tax holiday of the summer is Disaster Preparedness. This will be the second Disaster
Preparedness tax holiday of the 2024 season, with the first holiday being from June 1 to June 14. From Saturday, Aug. 24 to Friday, Sept. 6, items that qualify as disaster preparedness items under various price tiers are exempted from sales tax. These items include pet food, travel sized bowls and can openers, litter pans and waste bags; portable, self-powered light sources and power banks; self powered, two way or weather band radios; batteries; fuel tanks; fire alarms, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors,; tarpaulin and waterproof sheeting and ground anchor systems; and portable generators.
The last sales tax holiday of the summer is Tool Time. From Sunday, Sept. 1 through Saturday, Sept. 7, tools and other related items are exempt from sales tax. Exempted items include work gloves, high visibility safety vests, hand tools, protective wear, tote bags, flashlights, tool boxes, tool belts, electrical equipment, industry codebooks, batteries, plumbing equipment, power tools, ladders, and more.
For more information on qualified items for each sales tax holiday, frequently asked questions and information specific to businesses for the tax holidays, visit the Florida Department of Revenue at https://floridarevenue.com/pages/salestaxholidays.