By Regan McCarthy
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-981765.mp3
Tallahasssee, FL – The State is calling this weekend's sales tax break a "Back to school sales tax holiday," but Regan McCarthy reports not everything on the list of tax exempt items is about going back to school.
Stores are already buzzing with parents and students shopping for school supplies Landi White is shopping with her daughter for notebooks. She says the savings will help because each year the length of the school supply lists grows.
"We have like a big list for Tallavana and just all kinds of stuff. More stuff than last year and the year before that and now that they're getting older it seems like there's just more."
The sales tax holiday lasts all weekend and Chris Moore, the father of a 6 and a 2 year old says he's planning to hit the store with two lists of supplies his kids will need before starting school. He says their lists are pretty extensive.
"Pencils, paper, crayons, Kleenexes, antibacterial hand soap, bug spray, sun block "
Republican Representative Elizabeth Porter of Lake City sponsored the bill that gave the okay to the holiday. She says the purpose of the sales tax break is to help parents stretch their dollar a little further while fulfilling those school needs and requests.
"For the citizens of the state this is a very difficult time and for those folks who are raising children and have to supply the children with what they need for school its going to be a terrific help for them to be able to have a financial break."
But Moore says he's feeling a little frustrated because there are things on his kids' lists that aren't included on the Florida Department of Revenue's list of tax exempt items.
"Oh yeah, It's mandatory at our school that you supply each child with sun block "
Sun block is not on the department's list of tax exempt items. Neither are things on other parents' back to school shopping lists like flash drives. The Department of Revenue says the list is not all inclusive but there are things specifically mentioned on the list that Moore says strike him as rather odd.
"You can get tax breaks on lingerie and robes and ski clothing, but not on staplers and printer paper."
Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale presented the sales tax holiday legislation in the Senate. She says legislators tried to make the lists of tax exempt supplies as comprehensive as possible while staying within a budget.
"The list was made simply based on things we believe people need to get their kids back to school. I don't believe the legislation said snow suits because we wouldn't be purchasing snow suits in South Florida. It talks about clothing in general. I would rather see this as a positive spin than a negative spin in terms of we picked as many items as we could within the financial constraints that we had. We had x number of dollars in order to provide to the citizens of the state of Florida a tax break."
But snow ski suits purchased for $75 or less are named as a tax exempt item on the list. Meanwhile, those purchasing water ski vests will, according to the list, have to pay a tax.
Representative Porter says the tax break holiday has been on and off for years. She says items like that likely got repeated from a time before and missed when legislators re-visited the legislation this year.
"They may have taken some language from another state sales tax holiday and it was overlooked. The change wasn't made for certain thing that wouldn't necessarily apply to Florida."
And Bogdanoff says the positive thing is that the holiday typically leads to increased sales.
"People are using it as a marketing opportunity to bring people into the stores. This is a way to stimulate the economy in our small way."
Rick McAllister the CEO of the Florida Retail Federation says last year the state collected an additional 7 million dollars in taxes because of the tax holiday. He says people aren't just shifting their shopping to the weekend they're doing extra shopping over the weekend.
"If it was just moving sales from before and after why would retailers want to do it? They're the experts. They track sales by an hourly basis by station, by location. They know exactly what is happening and what happens when they don't have the holiday."
McAllister says a significant portion of the economic bump he's expecting will come from purchases store goers make in addition to the traditional back to school stuff. Bogdanoff says, despite its back to school billing, the tax break is meant for everyone to enjoy. Porter says she hopes people will do the right things and Moore says it really doesn't matter to him.
"If you need some pencils then by all means buy some pencils. Buy some lingerie it's on the list."
The sales tax holiday begins August 12 and runs through the 14. It applies to school supplies under $15 and clothing items under $75.