Orlando Sentinel

Take a ‘holiday’ on storm supplies

Beginning Friday, catch break on hurricane preparedne­ss needs

- By Jim Turner and Tom Urban

Starting Friday, shoppers in Florida can avoid paying sales taxes while putting together disasterpr­eparation stockpiles for the 2020 hurricane season.

In addition to helping residents buy everything from coolers to generators, Florida Retail Federation President and CEO Scott Shalley said he hopes the seven-day tax “holiday” can provide a boost for businesses suffering from the economic fallout of the coronaviru­s pandemic.

“I think you’re going to see, again, additional incentives from the retailers to encourage sales for disaster preparatio­n,” Shalley said. “You’re going to see an emphasis on sales of batteries, coolers and those sorts of things that help people get prepared now.”

The state-discounted items will coincide with wider hurricane-season enticement­s, some already being offered online, from businesses such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. Hurricane season will start Monday and continue through Nov. 30.

Florida lawmakers included the disaster-preparatio­n tax holiday in

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States