JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The yearly tax breaks Floridians get on school supplies and hurricane gear could extend to other items and events this year.
Lawmakers are considering a total of four sales tax holidays. They want to continue “Freedom Week,” which happened around the 4th of July last year.
They also want to add a sales tax holiday around Labor Day.
If approved, Floridians would get a 14-day disaster preparedness holiday in May and early June.
There would be a seven-day “Freedom Week” tax holiday in July centered on recreational items and activities. Freedom Week would include no sales tax on tickets to music or sporting events, movies, theaters, museums, and parks.
People would also be able to save money on camping, fishing or boating gear, surfboards, kayaks, canoes, and bicycles.
A 14-day “back-to-school” tax holiday would happen in July and August on clothing, school supplies and other must-haves.
There is a possibility of a seven-day tax holiday in September for tools and equipment surrounding Labor Day.
The new Labor Day holiday would include breaks on work boots, power tools, toolboxes for vehicles and LED flashlights.
Lawmakers seem firm on not supporting a $0.25 gas-tax suspension Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing.
The gas tax is expected to cost taxpayers about $1 billion.
DeSantis has said if the gas tax suspension is approved, he would use federal stimulus money to make up for the lost gas-tax revenue that typically goes toward transportation projects.