The tax package is expected to provide savings for shoppers who purchase back-to-school items, hurricane-preparedness supplies, summer activities, and tools.
The Florida House has approved a $1.38 billion tax package that includes tax holidays for shoppers and businesses
The bill also includes tax exemptions for items like diapers, gas stoves, and oral-hygiene products. The House bill matches most of the Senate version of the tax package and offers additional tax breaks on dental products for working families.
The Senate package would provide about $1 billion in tax savings, with the biggest difference being the House’s plan to temporarily reduce a commercial-lease tax from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent. The tax package is expected to help working families and young kids the most. House Ways & Means Chairman Stan McClain has said that the temporary reduction in commercial-lease tax could result in direct impacts on the economy of the state of Florida.
The Senate proposal includes $35 million to offset property-tax refunds that counties are providing to homeowners whose properties were uninhabitable for at least 30 days after Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole. It also includes tax savings of $4.1 million on the purchase of firearm-storage devices and $27.5 million on equine products, and $32.9 million in credits on brownfield site cleanups.
The House and Senate bills include two 14-day back-to-school tax holidays that would allow shoppers to buy clothes, school supplies, and computers without paying sales taxes
The state would also hold a 14-day tax holiday in May and June to allow people to buy disaster-preparedness supplies without paying sales taxes, and a “Freedom Summer” tax holiday from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The latter provides a sales-tax exemption on certain recreational gear and outdoor activities and a seven-day “Tool Time” tax holiday in September for tools and equipment.
House and Senate leaders are expected to reach an agreement on the tax package as they finalize the budget for the upcoming 2023-2024 fiscal year.