Erin Hill
Gadsden County News Service
Florida families still have several weeks to save money on back-to-school shopping as the state’s annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday continues through Aug. 20.
The tax holiday began Monday, July 20, giving shoppers more than a month to purchase qualifying school-related items without paying Florida’s state sales tax. The annual program was approved by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Eligible items include:
- Clothing, footwear, wallets and certain bags priced at $100 or less per item.
- School supplies priced at $50 or less per item.
- Learning aids and jigsaw puzzles priced at $30 or less per item.
- Personal computers and certain computer-related accessories priced at $1,500 or less when purchased for personal, noncommercial use.
Qualifying school supplies include notebooks, pencils, crayons, markers, binders, glue, lunch boxes, folders, paper and calculators that meet the price limit. Eligible computers include laptops, desktop computers and tablets, along with certain related accessories.
Not every school-related purchase qualifies for the exemption. Items such as jewelry, watches, suitcases, video game consoles and certain computer accessories remain taxable. Purchases made at theme parks, airports and public lodging establishments generally do not qualify for the tax exemption.
The sales tax holiday applies to qualifying purchases made in stores, online and through mail-order retailers, provided the purchases meet the requirements established by the Florida Department of Revenue.
The tax holiday continues as Gadsden County students prepare to return to the classroom. The first day of school for Gadsden County School District students is Tuesday, Aug. 11, giving families several weeks to take advantage of the tax-free savings before classes begin.
State officials encourage shoppers to review the complete list of eligible and excluded items before making purchases to ensure they qualify for the tax savings.