Florida’s back-to-school sales tax holiday continues through Sunday, August 16, 2015, the day before school begins in Okaloosa County. The sales tax holiday began August 7.
During this holiday period, Florida law directs that no sales tax or local option tax (also known as discretionary sales surtax) will be collected on purchases of:
- Clothing, footwear, and certain accessories selling for $100 or less per item,
- Certain school supplies selling for $15 or less per item, and
- Personal computers and certain computer-related accessories on the first $750 of the sales price, when purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.
This holiday does not apply to:
- Any item of clothing selling for more than $100;
- Any school supply item selling for more than $15;
- Books that are not otherwise exempt;
- Rentals or leases of any of these items;
- Repairs or alterations of any of these items; or
- Sales of clothing, school supplies, or computers and computer-related accessories in a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment, or airport.
“Clothing” means any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear (except skis, swim fins, roller blades, and skates) intended to be worn on or about the human body. Clothing does not include watches, watch bands, jewelry, umbrellas, or handkerchiefs.
“School supplies” means pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunch boxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses, and calculators.
“Personal computer” means an electronic device that accepts information in digital or similar form and manipulates such information for a result based on a sequence of instructions. The term includes any electronic book reader, laptop, desktop, handheld, tablet, or tower computer but does not include cellular telephones, video game consoles, digital media receivers, or devices that are not primarily designed to process data.
“Personal computer-related accessories” includes keyboards, mice (mouse devices), personal digital assistants, monitors, other peripheral devices, modems, routers, and non-recreational software, regardless of whether the accessories are used in association with a personal computer base unit. Computer-related accessories do not include furniture or systems, devices, software, or peripherals that are designed or intended primarily for recreational use. The term “monitor” does not include a device that includes a television tuner
For general questions, click here to see the Tax Information Publication or here to see the Frequently Asked Questions.
