By Jim Turner ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A sales-tax “holiday” will start Saturday that can help Floridians prepare for storms as the state moves into the peak of hurricane season, while another set of tax breaks is on the horizon for people buying tools and other work gear.
The holiday periods, which will allow people to avoid paying sales taxes on purchases, are part of a tax package (HB 7073) that lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved this year.
The first holiday period, which will begin Saturday and continue through Sept. 6, is designed to save money for people as they buy storm-related items ranging from packages of batteries and pet supplies to portable radios and generators. The state also held a similar tax holiday around the June 1 start of the six-month hurricane season.
Also, the state will hold what has been dubbed the “tool time” tax holiday from Sept. 1 through Sept. 7 to provide tax breaks on tools and work gear such as gloves, boots and ladders.
Hurricane seasons historically pick up in mid-August with the climatological peak around Sept. 10. Meteorological experts have forecast an above-average hurricane season this year, which could mean more than 20 named storms before the end of November.
So far, the season has produced five named storms, including Hurricane Debby, which made landfall near Steinhatchee on Aug. 5 as a Category 1 storm before dumping heavy rain across North Florida and parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.
Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie this week advised people not to be fooled by the current calm in the Atlantic and to use the tax holiday that starts Saturday to “go out and restock or stock for disaster items.”
“We’re entering the peak weeks of hurricane season,” Guthrie said Wednesday while in Sarasota. “They’re upon us. Tropical cyclones may develop over the next four to six or even eight weeks.”
The private meteorology company AccuWeather on Thursday predicted six to 10 named storms in September, citing factors such as water temperatures that remain near or at record highs across much of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Warm water helps fuel hurricanes.
“There’s a possibility that we could see multiple tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic basin on the same day, similar to the frequency of storms that we’ve seen during other supercharged hurricane seasons like 2020,” Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert, said in a prepared statement.
The tax holiday starting Saturday and the similar period around the start of hurricane season are projected to trim $80.2 million from state and local tax revenues. This year’s overall tax-cut package carries an estimated $439.6 million price tag.
Among other things, shoppers will not have to pay sales taxes on reusable ice packs that cost $20 or less; portable radios, fuel tanks and packages of batteries 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.
Also, tax exemptions apply to such things 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 medications, pet carriers and bags of dry dog or cat food that costs $100 or less.
During the “tool time” period in early September, sales-tax exemptions will be provided on work gloves that cost $25 or less and such things as hand tools, safety glasses, protective coveralls, shovels and rakes that cost $50 or less.
As other examples, tax exemptions will apply to hard hats that cost $100 or less; work boots that cost $175 or less; ladders that cost $250 or less; and power tools and vehicle tool boxes that cost $300 or less.
The tool time tax breaks are projected to save shoppers $19.8 million.
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