While summer is still in full swing, the start of the upcoming school year is fast approaching. To help ease the costs of school supplies and apparel, the Florida legislature has approved several tax-free days that will begin next week.
From Aug. 2 to Aug. 6, consumers in Florida will be able to purchase an array of items without sales tax. During that time, sales tax will not be collected on clothing, backpacks, fanny packs, handbags and diaper bags with a sales price of $60 or less.
School supplies costing $15 or less are also tax exempt. Everything from pens, pencils and paper to arts and crafts supplies and protractors and calculators are also included.
Personal computers and computer-related accessories like keyboards and monitors that are less than $1,000 are also part of the tax holiday. That includes laptops, tablets, desktop computers and electronic book readers. The tax exemption does not apply to the purchase of cell phones and video game consoles.
The nonpartisan government watchdog group, Florida TaxWatch, estimates that Floridians will save nearly $42 million during this year’s back-to-school tax holiday.
