Florida’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday Starting

The holiday runs from August 7-9.

Border states, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois and Tennessee, all participate in tax free weekend. Local sales taxes apply to purchases unless the local taxing authority creates its own exemption. Although dorm essentials are not listed as being tax free, however, students can still take advantage of sales in stores and online.

Shoppers are expected to buy more non-exempt products during the three-day tax holiday and purchases from out-of-state shoppers are expected to rise as residents of neighboring states take advantage of offers at Ohio retail locations.

Throughout the weekend, shoppers across South Carolina will save a collective total of around $3 million.

“This year we advocated for a longer extension and they agreed with it, and now it’s 10 days”, said James Miller with the Florida Retail Federation.

Items exempt from the state’s 6 percent sales tax include clothing, clothing accessories such as hats, scarves, hosiery and handbags, footwear and school supplies such as pens, pencils, paper, binders, computers and software, printers, lunch boxes and calculators. The holiday begins today and ends on Sunday, August 15. “The other important thing to remember is, the item you’re purchasing must be under $100″, Daniels says. However, it is not applicable for clothing or school-supplies that are purchased at a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging or airport. A comprehensive list of back-to-school deals for many stores, including Target, Office Max and Family Dollar, can be found at the website Spend Less, Shop More.

While announcing the tax free weekend, Governor Baker said, “The sales tax holiday gives consumers a much needed break while bolstering business across the Commonwealth for our hardworking retailers”. Nonexempt items include jewelry, cosmetics, eyewear and furniture.

If you haven’t finished “back to school” shopping yet, you might want to wait until this weekend.