Floridians looking to save a little money on clothes or office supplies might want to head to stores this weekend. Friday is the first day of the state’s sales tax holiday.
Florida’s sales tax holiday runs from August 3rd through the 5th. It’s intended as a chance for shoppers to buy back-to-school items like clothes and school supplies without having to pay the extra cost of a sales tax. Trae Bodge, from the website Retail Me Not said those savings should be a big help for a lot of parents.
“We actually conducted an ipsos poll and found that the majority of people plan to spend up to $500 dollars per child this year," Bodge said.
Bodge said about half of those dollars will be spent on clothes, one of the items approved for a sales tax exception by the Florida law.
And families aren’t the only ones hoping to benefit from the holiday. Some charity groups like the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend said they hope shoppers will keep them in mind during this time too. Spokeswoman Molly Lord encourages Floridians to use their savings to buy extra supplies to donate.
"You know, buy one more that they can give to a child, to a provider, so a child can use that in a preschool,” Lord said.
A list of items that will be exempt from the sales tax is available on the Florida Department of Revenue’s website. It limits clothing items to those costing less than $75 dollars and office supplies less than $15.
The Early Learning coalition will be accepting donations with a big event at the Kia dealership Saturday. They’ll continue taking events through the rest of the month, even after the sales tax holiday ends.
