JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida residents who buy diapers may no longer have to pay sales tax on their purchases starting on July 1.
The tax break, which was part of this year’s $112 billion state budget passed on Monday, includes single-use, reusable diapers and reusable diaper inserts and would last for one year.
State Senator Lauren Book (D-Plantation), who introduced a bill that would eliminate the tax, said on Twitter that she has been working to eliminate the diaper tax for Florida’s families for years.
“Since I was elected to the @FLSenate in 2016, I have been fighting to eliminate the diaper tax for Florida’s families. After years of hard work, I am proud to share that the 2022 state budget - as approved today - finally includes the removal of the sales tax on diapers,” Book said.
1 in 3 families reports experiencing diaper need. Relatedly, Florida ended sales tax for tampons and feminine hygiene products in 2017. Diapers are also essential health and hygiene products.
— Lauren Book (@LeaderBookFL) March 14, 2022
Book said the agreement doesn’t include adult incontinence products, though it was part of her bill that failed in the Florida Senate.
“We’ll continue the fight next year,” Book said.
Founder of Diaper Bank for Northeast Florida Crystal Parks told News4JAX local parents are struggling to afford diapers and it is getting worse during the pandemic.
“What it does is put money back into the hands of low-income families. And it’s also raising awareness that one in three families in America struggle to afford diapers,” Parks said.
MORE | How Diaper Bank for Northeast Florida works
The tax break would still have to be approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis, but he put his stamp of approval on the measure on Wednesday.
“I know there’s a lot of parents of young kids that when that goes into effect on July 1, are going to be very happy,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Hialeah, referencing to his own 1-yea-old daughter. “There’s certain things when inflation is this bad, maybe you cut back on some certain stuff, but it’s kind of hard to cut back on diapers when you got a little one. I mean, that’s just the reality of what you have to do.”
The state said in the first year of a child’s life, parents can expect to use approximately 3,000 diapers or an average of eight diapers per day.
Book told WFTS in Tampa Bay that disposable diapers can cost families up to $80 per month per child. In Jacksonville, that would mean about a $70 saving per year for parents.
The diaper sales tax exemption is non-recurring. That means legislators would have to come back and re-authorize it year after year.
