By Jim Turner ©2024 The Florida News Service
TALLAHASSEE – A “sales tax-free period” begins Saturday that can help Florida residents prepare for storms as the state moves toward the peak of hurricane season, while another round of tax breaks for purchasing tools and other work equipment is on the horizon.
The holiday, which allows people to avoid paying sales tax on purchases, is part of a tax package (HB 7073) that lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis passed this year.
The first tax holiday, which begins Saturday and runs through Sept. 6, is designed to help people save money on purchases of storm-related items, from battery packs and pet supplies to portable radios and generators. The state also held a similar tax holiday around June 1, when the six-month hurricane season began.
In addition, the state is running a so-called “Tool Time” tax holiday from September 1 to 7 to provide tax relief for tools and work equipment such as gloves, boots and ladders.
Hurricane season historically begins in mid-August and reaches its climatological peak around September 10. Meteorologists have predicted an above-average hurricane season this year, which could mean there will be more than 20 named storms by the end of November.
So far, the season has produced five named storms, including Hurricane Debby, which made landfall near Steinhatchee as a Category 1 storm on August 5 before dumping heavy rains in northern Florida and parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.
Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida’s Emergency Management Agency, advised people this week not to be fooled by the current calm in the Atlantic and to use the tax-free period that begins Saturday to “go out and stock up on supplies or disaster relief items.”
“We are in the peak hurricane weeks,” Guthrie said Wednesday in Sarasota. “They are here. Tropical cyclones may develop in the next four to six or even eight weeks.”
Private weather company AccuWeather on Thursday forecast six to 10 named storms for September, citing factors such as sea temperatures remaining near or at record highs across much of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Warm water contributes to the formation of hurricanes.
“There is a possibility that we could experience multiple tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic basin on the same day, similar to the frequency of storms we have seen during other high-intensity hurricane seasons like 2020,” AccuWeather senior hurricane forecaster Alex DaSilva said in a prepared statement.
The tax holiday, which begins Saturday, and the similar period around the start of hurricane season, are expected to generate $80.2 million less in state and local tax revenue. The total package of tax cuts this year is estimated to cost $439.6 million.
Among other things, buyers will not have to pay sales tax on reusable ice packs that cost $20 or less; portable radios, fuel tanks and battery packs that cost $50 or less; coolers that cost $60 or less; tarps that cost $100 or less; and portable generators that cost $3,000 or less.
Tax exemptions also apply to items such as wet dog or cat food that costs $10 or less, cat litter that costs $25 or less, pet beds that cost $40 or less, and over-the-counter pet medicines, pet carriers, and bags of dry dog or cat food that cost $100 or less.
During “tool season” in early September, there is a sales tax exemption on work gloves costing $25 or less, as well as items such as hand tools, safety glasses, protective coveralls, shovels and rakes costing $50 or less.
Other examples: Tax exemptions apply to hard hats costing $100 or less, work boots costing $175 or less, ladders costing $250 or less, and power tools and vehicle tool boxes costing $300 or less.
The tool time tax credit is expected to save buyers $19.8 million.
