The Florida legislature needs to first approve the budget.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The status of this year’s sales tax holiday for hurricane supplies is in limbo.
That’s because the legislature is three weeks behind in approving a budget.
Doug Kreie holds the position of General Manager at Hagan Ace Hardware located in Mandarin. Whenever the state launches its sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness supplies, his store experiences increased business activity. “I think sometimes, even though we talk about being prepared, a lot of people wait,” he explained. “And then once they hear about the tax holiday for the hurricane supplies, it tends to remind them, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got to go get that done.’”
This year, however, the sales tax holiday’s status is uncertain as the state legislature is three weeks behind in passing a budget. According to a note sent to House of Representatives members, the legislature will not convene this week.
The Florida Department of Revenue states that for a sales tax holiday to occur, the Florida Legislature must annually pass legislation specifying the duration of the exemption period and the items included. As of Tuesday, the Legislature had not passed the necessary sales tax holiday legislation.
George Ramos lives in Jacksonville and was shopping at Ace Hardware Tuesday. He said the tax-free holiday “doesn’t impact me because I prepare year-round. But I think in the past I’ve taken advantage of that week to buy generators and buy certain things that I would have needed.”
Other Floridians have certainly taken advantage of the sales tax holiday in the past. According to the budget proposal, this sales tax holiday would save Floridians (and cost the state) $72 million in sales tax.
According to the bill waiting for approval, the sales tax-free holiday would have been from June 2 through 15, 2025. Again, that is on hold for now.
Kreie believes more people will hold off on buying their hurricane prep supplies.
“Hopefully the legislature won’t take too long, and we can get this done, because the more people who buy early are the people who will have the supplies they need,” Kreie said.
