South Florida Sun Sentinel
Jul 14, 2021 2:14 PM
In preparation for students heading back to the classrooms, Florida will once again host its back-to-school tax holiday. This year nearly tripling the length from last year’s three-day event to 10 days.
Starting Saturday, July 31 and running through Monday, Aug. 9, parents can take advantage of no sales tax on certain types of items, such as clothing, school supplies and computers.
The list of qualifying items remains the same as last year:
- School supplies ($15 or less per item). On the list of included items: pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, glue, calculators and rulers. Supplies not tax free include printer paper, white-out products and masking tape.
- Clothing, footwear, and certain accessories ($60 or less per item). According to the Florida Department of Revenue, clothing refers to wearing apparel, including footwear, intended to be worn on or about the human body. This includes wallets, or bags, including handbags, backpacks, fanny packs, and diaper bags. It excludes briefcases, suitcases and other garment bags. Clothing does not include watches, jewelry, umbrellas or handkerchiefs.
- The first $1,000 of the sales price of personal computers and certain computer-related accessories purchased for noncommercial home or personal use. Personal computers and accessories can include laptops, desktops, tablets, electronic book readers, keyboards, modems, routers and monitors. It does not include cell phones, video game consoles, digital cameras or any devices not primarily designed to process data.
Florida TaxWatch estimated Floridians saved more than $41.8 million last year during the three-day tax holiday.
In Palm Beach County, public school begins on Aug. 10. In Broward, children return on Aug. 18. In Miami-Dade County, the return date is Aug. 23.
This will mark the first time students will return 100% to face-to-face classes since South Florida districts switched to online classes in March 2020 due to COVID-19.
