The following items are tax free:
Clothing and apparel under $60.
School supplies and related items under $15.
Books are not tax free.
The Florida State tax rate varies by county, but you’ll typically save between 6%-7% on your purchase.
Tax Exemptions in Florida
Most items that children need for school are tax exempt. This includes most clothing and most school supplies, but not all of them. And sometimes the rules are a little confusing. For example:
Tax Free Taxed
Baseball Cleats Baseball Gloves
Fishing Vests Fishing Boots (waders)
Gardening Gloves Surgical Gloves
Accessories (handbags, ties) Accessories (jewelry, watches)
Swimsuits Swim Masks and Goggles
Binders, Rulers, and Poster Board Staplers and Computer Paper
As you can see, the guidelines aren’t necessarily intuitive, so take some time on the Florida Department of Revenue website to familiarize yourself with Florida’s list of exempt and taxable items.
And keep in mind the spending thresholds, too. Tax exemptions only apply to clothing items less than $60. There’s also no limit to how many tax-free items you can buy so, in essence, you could buy 100 $50 jackets, and they’d all be tax-free.
Four Unexpected Tax-Free Items
A couple of items on the Florida tax-free weekend list aren’t really related to back-to-school. Since you won’t be taxed on them this weekend, it’s a great time to also buy some of these items:
Diapers: If you’ve got a baby, you know that those things are expensive and that the best brands are seldom on sale. But diapers are tax-free during Florida’s holiday. Other baby care items are tax-free, too, including receiving blankets and baby clothes. (Strangely, though, crib blankets are taxed.)
Costumes: It may feel a little early, but Halloween is creeping up on us quickly. And since costumes are tax exempt, it might be a good time to invest in your kid’s Halloween costume. Careful, though – children are finicky, and what they’re in love with this summer could change once they pow-wow with classmates and friends.
Sports Uniforms: As mentioned above, the rules for taxing on sport equipment are kind of complicated. Remember, pads, helmets, and balls aren’t exempt. But uniforms are exempt, so if you’re in charge of a sports team or your child takes dance classes, it’s a great chance to score some discounts on uniforms.
Employee uniforms: Scrubs, maintenance jumpsuits, and other work clothes and uniforms are exempt.
Tax-Free Shopping Online
Florida residents can also take advantage of the tax-free weekend online. Tax-free shopping applies to all transactions that are accepted and confirmed by the retailer during the 72-hour tax-free period. However, according to Florida law, shipping and handling charges are part of the sales price of an item, even if they are stated separately. This means that an order of a $59 jacket with $5 shipping would not be tax exempt because the item exceeds the $60 apparel threshold. Pro Tip: Bypass this rule by adding a couple more items to your order – shipping and handling will be divided by the number of items in the order to determine tax exemption.
Click to see:
Tax-free information for Arkansas, Connecticut, Texas, and Virginia .
States Participating in Tax-Free Weekend 2017