A new back-to-school tax holiday in Florida takes effect today, January 1st, and will run until Sunday, January 14.
During the Florida back-to-school tax holidays, certain clothing, footwear, and accessories with a sales price of $100 or less per item, certain school supplies with a sales price of $50 or less per item, learning aids and jigsaw puzzles with a sales price of $30 or less, and personal computers and related accessories purchased for noncommercial home or personal use with a sales price of $1,500 or less, are exempt from sales tax.
This is the second back-to-school tax holiday in Florida in the last year, following one which ran from July 24 to August 6 last year.
A list of items that are exempt from tax during the back-to-school sales tax holidays include:
• Personal computers or personal computer-related accessories purchased for noncommercial home or personal use having a sales price of $1,500 or less:
Personal computers* include:
➢ Electronic book readers
➢ Laptops
➢ Desktops
➢ Handhelds
➢ Tablets
➢ Tower computers
* The term does not include cellular telephones, video game consoles, digital media receivers, or devices that are not primarily designed to process data.
Personal computer-related accessories* include:
➢ Keyboards
➢ Mice
➢ Personal digital assistants
➢ Monitors
➢ Other peripheral devices
➢ Modems
➢ Routers
➢ Nonrecreational software, regardless of whether the accessories are used in
association with a personal computer base unit
* The term does not include furniture or systems, devices, software, monitors with a television tuner, or peripherals that are designed or intended primarily for recreational use.
• Items having a sales price of $100 or less per item:
Wallets or bags*, including:
➢ Handbags
➢ Backpacks
➢ Fanny packs
➢ Diaper bags
* Briefcases, suitcases, and other garment bags are excluded.
Clothing:
➢ Any article of wearing apparel intended to be worn on or about the human body,
excluding watches, watchbands, jewelry, umbrellas, and handkerchiefs.
➢ All footwear, excluding skis, swim fins, roller blades, and skates.
• School supplies having a sales price of $50 or less per item:
➢ Pens
➢ Pencils
➢ Erasers
➢ Crayons
➢ Notebooks
➢ Notebook filler paper
➢ Legal pads
➢ Binders
➢ Lunch boxes
➢ Construction paper
➢ Markers
➢ Folders
➢ Posterboard
➢ Composition books
➢ Poster paper
➢ Scissors
➢ Cellophane tape
➢ Glue or paste
➢ Rulers
➢ Computer disks
➢ Staplers
➢ Staples used to secure paper products
➢ Protractors
➢ Compasses
➢ Calculators
• Learning aids and jigsaw puzzles having a sales price of $30 or less:
➢ Flashcards or other learning cards
➢ Matching or other memory games
➢ Puzzle books and search-and-find books
➢ Interactive or electronic books and toys intended to teach reading or math skills
➢ Stacking or nesting blocks or sets
For more information, visit the Florida Department of Revenue.
