Back to School shopping starts in earnest on Monday, when the annual Florida sales tax holiday on most items children need for school kicks in.
Passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the back to school sales tax extends through Sunday, Aug. 11—just in time for the first day of school in Osceola County on Monday. Aug. 12.
In short, the following items qualify: • Clothing, footwear, backpacks and accessories with a sales price $100 or less.
• School supplies with a sales price of $50 or less—if it goes in their backpack and they’ll use it during school, it’s tax free under $50.
• Learning aids and jigsaw puzzles with a sales price of $30 or less.
• Computers and related accessories (calculators, E-readers, tablets, keyboards and mice, modems, monitors, routers, ) with a sales price of $1,500 or less, when purchased for personal (non-commercial) home use.
Items that aren’t included are those at higher price points than listed, are:
• Skis, swim fins, roller blades, and skates
• Briefcases and suitcases
• Books that are not otherwise exempt
• Computers and computer- related accessories purchased for commercial purposes • Rentals of any eligible items
• Repairs or alterations of any eligible items
• Sales of any eligible items within a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment or airport
More on the rules: The purchase must be made during the sales tax holiday to be tax-exempt. If items are purchased during the tax holiday using a gift card, the items are tax-exempt; it does not matter when the gift card was purchased.
Items purchased online are exempt when the order is accepted by the company during the sales tax holiday for immediate shipment, even if delivery is made after the tax holiday.
Direct additional questions to the Florida Department of Revenue at: https://floridarevenue.com/backtoschool.
