Hey guys. It’s Bette Hochberger CPA, CGMA. On today’s Finance Friday, we’re going to talk about the Florida tax holidays. Florida tax holidays? But you don’t pay any income taxes in Florida. Right? That’s why everyone wants to live here. Well, this isn’t actually an income tax holiday. It’s actually a sales tax holiday, which isn’t really new in Florida. We’ve been doing this for several years, but it is a little different this year. Anyone familiar with Florida knows that the rainy season is hurricane season. Actually, it’s starting May 28th, and if you’re watching this live, that’s today; we’ve got the Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday right now. So what does that mean?
It means anything you’re going to buy getting ready for hurricane season will have sales tax waived. Obviously, it’s not anything and everything. If you try to buy a $10,000 generator, that will not be tax-free sales. But if you need to buy smaller supplies, think flashlights, lanterns, small radios, tarps, coolers, batteries, those really like essential to get through those horrible days of having no electricity in the Florida summer. Those are the kinds of things that are eligible. That is not an entire list of all of them. And there are always exclusions, so we’re going to give you some resources in the comments to see exactly what this covers.
The other pretty common Florida tax holiday is for back to school. This year specifically, the dates are July 31st through August 9th, and this covers all kinds of things to get the kids back into school and help families out a little bit, giving us a little sales tax break. So what does that cover? Clothing, shoes, school supplies. Usually, there’s like computer electronic-type things. But again, this is not an expansive list of all of it, and there are always exclusions, so be really, really careful. Make sure what you’re buying is actually on the list so that you get to take advantage of it.
But new, brand new, for 2021, thank you, Governor DeSantis, we have another Florida tax holiday. It is the Florida Freedom Week. Woo-hoo. It’s July 1st through July 7th. Very patriotic crosses right over the 4th of July holiday. What is eligible for this? It is all kinds of things to celebrate freedom from the pandemic. Florida’s been doing fantastic, getting reopened, getting people back out there, shopping, enjoying life, so there are some cool things that this covers. All right, music event tickets, sporting event tickets, cultural events, movies, museums, even the state parks. Wow, super cool stuff and those admissions are running through December 31st. So if you buy it during that sales tax holiday, you can use it anytime for the rest of the year.
Also, Floridians, we like our water. It covers boating and water supplies, and there’s a lot of stipulations on there. But think about snorkels, goggles, swimming masks, paddles, oars, safety vests. All that kind of stuff that lets you have a ton of fun on the water. Also, camping supplies. Camping, not so fun in Florida in the summer, but there are so many great places to camp at other times during the year; you might as well stock up on this stuff in the summer when we have that sales tax holiday. So lanterns, flashlights, sleeping bags, all kinds of stuff. Check out the list. See all the things. Even tents, actually. You can get a bit of a discount when buying your tent, which is fantastic because those can be expensive.
And then fishing supplies. Tons of fishing in Florida. We have so much coastline it’s insane. So your general fishing, outdoor sports equipment, all that kind of stuff, there’s going to be a list. Again, we’re going to post that information for you so that you can get right to that stuff and hopefully enjoy your freedom this summer. Woo-hoo. So patriotic. Awesome. So make sure, put those dates on your calendar. If you need to get ready for hurricanes, if you need to get ready for school, and if you want to have some fun again in 2021, make sure you catch those Florida sales tax holidays. That’s it for today. We’ll see-
