(The Center Square) – Florida’s back to school sales tax holiday will start on Friday, but some experts think the policy is a misguided one.
The sales tax holiday will end on Aug. 31.
Florida’s back to school sales tax holiday includes exemptions for several categories of items. They include school supplies selling for $50 or less such as binders, notebooks, pens and pencils, lunchboxes, clothing, along with shoes priced at $100 or less. Learning aids such as flash cards and puzzles up to $30 are also exempt.
The sales tax holiday also covers personal computers and accessories such as flash drives and headphones priced at $1,500 or less.
A permanent exemption on disaster preparedness supplies also goes into effect on Friday. Exempt items include batteries, portable generators, tarps, gas cans, tie-down kits, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
“Proud to deliver additional sales tax holidays, including the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday that begins on August 1,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said earlier this week at an appearance in Tampa. “With the new school year just around the corner, Florida families can save on back-to-school shopping during the tax holiday for the entire month of August. By cutting taxes, empowering parents, and growing our economy, we’re making it easier for people to live, work, and thrive in the Free State of Florida.”
Katherine Loughead is the senior policy analyst and research manager at the nonpartisan, nonprofit Tax Foundation. She told The Center Square that while sales tax holidays generate a lot of enthusiasm for the public, the benefit to taxpayers is temporary and limited, so the revenue costs also tend to be low.
“Studies show that sales tax holidays shift the timing of purchases much more than they increase the volume of purchases,” Loughead said. “While some consumers make incidental ‘impulse’ purchases during sales tax holidays that they wouldn’t make otherwise, those impulse purchases do not generate enough additional economic activity to make up for the lost revenue associated with sales tax holidays.”
She also said that permanent structural reform requires careful decision making but can yield powerful long-term benefits for taxpayers and the economy.
The state also has an annual “Second Amendment” sales tax holiday on hunting and fishing supplies and equipment that starts on Sept. 8 and ends on Dec. 31. These supplies include bows, firearms, ammunition, tents, sleeping bags, camping stoves, fishing rods and reels, tackle boxes, along with bait and tackle.
