Tax Package Aids Back-to-School Shoppers, Businesses

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Florida would hold a sales-tax “holiday” each August for back-to-school items, while sales taxes would be eliminated on commercial leases and such things as hurricane supplies and sunscreen, under a tax package that House and Senate leaders released Friday evening.

The House and Senate will vote on the tax package early next week along with a state budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The tax package is projected to reduce state and local government revenue by about $1.3 billion next fiscal year.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, told reporters Friday nobody will “get rich and go have a European vacation” on the tax cuts.

“Will you save a ton of money because of what we do? Probably not,” he said. “But you will save some.”

House and Senate leaders had earlier said they planned to eliminate the 2 percent sales tax on commercial leases, a cut long sought by business lobbyists. The lease-tax elimination makes up an estimated $904.8 million of the projected cuts in the package.

House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, pushed back on the suggestion that the package is tilted toward businesses instead of individuals.

“The notion that businesses don’t employ people that are part of families is nonsense,” McClure said.

“If those tax breaks give relief to corporations to allow them to grow and prosper in Florida, that is good for the employees, the Floridians that work for those companies,” McClure added.

The annual legislative session was scheduled to end May 2, but differences between the House and Senate on spending and tax cuts forced an extension. After lawmakers pass the budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis will have about two weeks to sign it and issue vetoes before the July 1 start of the fiscal year.

DeSantis pushed to give a property-tax rebate this year to homeowners as a prelude to asking voters in 2026 to pass a constitutional amendment to reduce or eliminate property taxes. But the tax rebate idea was not included in the package released Friday evening. The package, however, includes $1 million for the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research to study property tax changes.

The second-largest tax cut in the package, projected at $167.7 million next fiscal year, would come from the back-to-school tax holiday. The state has held such tax-free shopping periods almost every year, but they have needed to be approved annually; the new package would make the holidays happen throughout each August.

The package also includes sales-tax exemptions for hurricane supplies such as certain types of batteries and portable generators. Other exemptions included in the package bill would eliminate taxes on such things as sunscreen, insect repellant, tickets to NASCAR Championship races, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, life jackets, bicycle helmets, and admission to state parks. The state in the past has held tax holidays related to hurricane preparation and recreational activities.

The package also would lead to a one-time tax holiday on hunting, fishing and camping supplies from Sept. 8 through Dec. 31. In addition, it includes repealing an aviation fuel tax and reducing pari-mutuel cardroom taxes by 2 percent.