Florida grants sales tax exemptions for gas, school supplies, tools and more
Florida suspends collection of sales tax on many items for fixed periods, including gasoline, diapers, school supplies, outdoor recreational gear, children’s books.
TALLAHASSEE
Florida’s legislative session was marked by grueling fights over abortion, transgender issues and other topics of the nation’s “culture wars.”
But one major piece of legislation received bipartisan praise and unanimous votes: a series of temporary tax breaks the state is promoting as its biggest ever.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed the tax package into law, touting first-time sales tax breaks for all sorts of essential and recreational items. The state’s sales tax is 6%, but many of the items are exempt from county sales taxes as well.
“You’re gonna see breaks for really critical needs, like gas, diapers, disaster supplies, tools for skilled trades, recreational activities, you name it,” DeSantis said Friday. “Families are going to be able to save for things that really matter for them.”
Here are the major tax cuts and exemptions lawmakers passed this year, in the order they take effect. For additional details, visit the Florida Department of Revenue’s website.
1. CHILDREN’S BOOKS: MAY 14-AUG. 14, 2022
For three months, children’s books, regardless of the price, will be exempt from sales taxes. “Children’s books” are defined as “any fiction or nonfiction book primarily intended for children age 12 or younger.”
2. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS SUPPLIES: MAY 28-JUNE 10, 2022
The state’s annual two-week disaster preparedness tax holiday continues this year, with a slew of items exempt from state and county
Biscayne Bay is in dire straits, with several fish kills racked up over the last few summers, vanishing seagrass meadows and climate change cranking up the heat on MiamiDade’s blue gem.
Now, for the first time, Miami-Dade County is developing a formal, state-monitored plan to clean up its act and restore the bay. It’s hired a consultant and set a selfimposed deadline of September to deliver a plan to the state to address the dirtiest sliver of the bay.
If Miami-Dade meets that goal, it might score some state grants this year to transfer more polluting septic tanks to sewer lines, a major problem made worse by rising seas.
Miami-Dade County has begun working on a rapid assurance plan to clean up a slice of Biscayne Bay, the first action out of two groups designed to offer suggestions to slow fish kills and pollution.
The decision to pursue a “reasonable assurance plan” to clean up the bay is the first concrete action taken by the twin commissions — one from the county and one from the state — established last year to address rampant pollution in Biscayne Bay.
If that sounds like déjà vu, it’s because these groups are the latest in a decades-long string of task forces, blue-ribbon panels and commissions that come to the same conclusion every time: Biscayne Bay has too much pollution in it, and someone needs to fix it.
The difference is that this time, the county will have the state watching over its shoulder. Or at least, that’s the idea. After decades of inaction and declining water quality, advocates are concerned that the state won’t hold the county accountable for its new promises.
Under this type of plan, which has been used from Tampa to the Keys, the county decides where and how to begin the daunting cleanup.
“The county sets our own goals and we work toward our own goals, rather than the opposite and being told what to do,” Miami-Dade’s Chief Bay Officer Irela Bagué told the county’s Biscayne Bay Watershed Management Advisory Board on Wednesday.
If the county doesn’t meet its goals, the state might add new projects to the list.
“We don’t want to say, ‘Oh, you didn’t meet your 5-year goal,’ ” Adam Blalock, Florida’s deputy secretary for ecosystems restoration, told the Miami Herald. He said the idea was to create a “collegial” atmosphere to meet water quality goals.
DOES THE WATCHDOG HAVE TEETH?
But bay advocates fear the approach is too soft. The state and the county don’t have the best track record when it comes to cleaning up Biscayne Bay. This new strategy — called a RAP or reasonable assurance plan — is a substitute for a process that should have happened years ago.
When state water bodies start showing signs of pollution, Florida is sup
sales taxes, including:
Flashlights and lanterns worth $40 or less.
A package of batteries worth $50 or less.
Coolers worth $60 or less.
Portable generators worth $1,000 or less.
Various pet supplies The Department of Revenue has a full list of items.
AAAAA3. ‘FREEDOM WEEK’ SALES TAX HOLIDAY: JULY 1-JULY 7, 2022
For a week, tickets to live sporting and music events, movies, museums, state parks and festivals will be tax-free. So will a variety of outdoor supplies, including:
The first $250 on the sales price of bicycles and outdoor grills.
Various fishing supplies, including reels and rods.
The first $200 spent on tents.
The first $150 spent on residential pool and spa chemicals.
The state has a
AAAAcomplete list on its website.
4. DIAPERS, YOUNG CHILDREN’S CLOTHING, SHOES: JULY 1, 2022-JUNE 30, 2023
An idea proposed by Democrats in the Legislature for years, Republicans this year agreed to a oneyear sales tax exemption for children’s diapers.
Another exemption makes baby and toddler clothing, apparel and shoes primarily intended for children age 5 or younger tax-free during the same period.
5. IMPACT-RESISTANT WINDOWS, DOORS, GARAGE DOORS: JULY 1, 2022-JUNE 30, 2024
For two years, these items will be exempt from sales tax for both commercial and non-commercial use.
6. ENERGY STAR APPLIANCES: JULY 1, 2022-JUNE 30, 2023
The following Energy Star-labeled items are exempt from sales tax if they’re purchased for non-commercial use:
Clothes dryers selling for $1,500 or less.
Refrigerators or combination refrigerator/ freezers selling for $3,000 or less.
Washing machines selling for $1,500 or less.
Water heaters selling for $1,500 or less.
AAAA7. BACK-TO-SCHOOL: JULY 25-AUG. 7, 2022
Lawmakers renewed the annual sales tax holiday for school supplies this year, with the following items exempt:
Clothing, footwear and certain accessories with a sales price of $100 or less per item.
Certain school supplies with a sales price of $50 or less per item.
Learning aids and jigsaw puzzles with a sales price of $30 or less.
Personal computers and certain computerrelated accessories with a sales price of $1,500 or less, when purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.
More details are available on the state’s website.
AAAA8. SKILLED WORKER TOOLS SALES TAX HOLIDAY: SEPT. 3-SEPT. 9, 2022
This first-time tax holiday applies to the purchase of a variety of tools and supplies, including:
Toolboxes worth $75 or less.
Work boots selling for $175 or less per pair.
Power tools selling for $300 or less per item.
The complete list of eligible items is on the state’s website.
AAA9. GAS TAX SUSPENSION: OCT. 1-OCT 31, 2022
To alleviate record-high gas prices, lawmakers this year agreed to suspend collection of the state’s gas tax for a month (notably, the month before the November election, when DeSantis and every legislative seat is up for election).
Suspending collection of the gas tax means motorists will save about $0.25 per gallon, or about $1 billion in total. State lawmakers are plugging that hole with federal coronavirus stimulus dollars assigned by Congress.
10. GRAND PRIX TICKETS, PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR WIDOWERS, MORE
The tax package, House
Bill 7071, also includes many other tax exemptions, including:
A sales tax exemption for tickets to Formula One Grand Prix races, an exemption sought in years past by billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who owns the Hard Rock Stadium where the Miami Grand Prix race is held.
An increase in property exempt from taxation for residents who are
AAwidows, widowers, blind or totally and permanently disabled from $500 to $5,000.
A sales tax exemption for machinery and equipment used to produce energy from burning hydrogen, which could save the state’s largest utility, Florida Power & Light, an estimated $300,000 per year on a new plant in Okeechobee.
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