TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – It’s one of the first signs that summer is just about over in Florida. The state’s two-week back-to-school sales tax holiday began Monday.
Parents said the tax savings add up. “I’ve been excited about the tax-free weekend since I was a kid,” Reshai Dickey said.
Florida has had back-to-school tax holidays since the late 1990s. It started as a weekend event and expanded to a full two weeks, saving parents like Dickey and Lasonya Scott money yearly.
“Because I’m able to get everything I need without having to worry about that extra fee, that extra tax. If there’s something my son wants to get extra, I can get it for him,” Dickey said.
“Any way I can save money, especially since I have three girls, I am definitely going to use that opportunity to save money,” Scott said.
The tax holiday covers a wide range of anything children might need from backs to laptops.
“That’s a lot to save. My husband and I do try to keep a strict budget. So anywhere we can save money and then put it elsewhere, that will be good for us as a family,” Scott said.
Many businesses also use the tax holiday to draw in families with extra sales and coupons on many items on shopping lists.
Dickey said, as a teacher, she uses her savings to help other families.
“If they have something less to worry about when it comes to ‘I don’t have this, I don’t have that,’ even if it’s a student don’t have my class, I love them. If you need a pencil, Miss Dickey, I have you,” Dickey said.
The back-to-school holiday is projected to save shoppers $97.2 million.
There are two more sales tax holidays this year. One on disaster-preparedness supplies for 14 days starting August 24. And another on work equipment for seven days at the start of September.
You can learn more about Florida’s back-to-school sales tax holiday here.
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