Happy Summer everyone! Yes, we’re now officially more than halfway through the season. Hope you’ve had both a relaxing and productive one so far, but believe it or not, it’s time to think about back to school.
The good news is, that if you have kids that are in school or have employees who go to school part time, I’m going to share a way practically anyone can save money. That’s because the back-to-school tax holiday is about to get underway.
In Florida, unfortunately the back-to-school holiday has been cut down from 10 days to 3 days from August 5th through August 7th. So gather your shopping list and get ready to hit the stores. Here are some of the items that you can expect to buy tax-free:
- Clothing/Uniforms – Clothing items that cost $60 or less are tax-free during the shopping holiday. This includes, but is not limited to: uniforms for school, work or sports activities, shirts, blouses, pants, shorts, lingerie, jackets, vests, and socks. Funny thing, items like tuxedos, bathing suits and costumes are also tax exempt.
- Accessories – Expect to save 7% sales tax in Miami-Dade County, 6% in Broward, and 6% in Palm Beach on accessories that cost $60 or less. Items like belts, suspenders, shoes, handbags, scarves, wallets, fanny packs, braces or supports for an injury, work or leather gloves, hats, shoes and ties are all going tax-free.
- School or Office Supplies – If you’re running low on school or office supplies, now’s the time to buy them. You won’t have to pay taxes on certain items that cost $15 or less, such as pens, pencils, paperclips, binders, calculators, crayons, folders, glue, markers, notebooks and even lunch boxes.
- Diapers/Baby Items – I know a lot of new moms, who will be happy to hear that baby items such as diapers, baby clothes, bibs, diaper bags and even receiving blankets are also part of the back-to-school tax-free holiday.
Unfortunately, this year the state of Florida has cut down on the tax-free savings. Last year, computers and computer accessories under $750 or up to the first $750 dollars were exempt and considered tax-free. That’s not the case this year in Florida and so far, only 17 states are taking part in the tax-free shopping holiday. To see if your state is on the list, give us a call or check out this link to a list of participating states.
Make sure to save your receipts and give them to your bookkeeper or accountant to write-off at the end of the year or if you use a credit card let your bookkeeper know before he or she reconciles your monthly charges.
Happy shopping everyone!