Shoppers who want a tax break can take advantage of the 2018 Back-to-School Tax Holiday, which runs Aug. 3 through Aug. 5.
During the tax holiday, no sales tax or local option tax — also known as a discretionary sales surtax — will be collected on:
- Clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $60 or less per item
- Certain school supplies, selling for $15 or less per item
Nationally, total back-to-school spending, including kindergarten through college, is expected to reach $82.8 billion, slightly less than last year’s $83.6 billion. That’s according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation, and Prosper Insights and Analytics.
The survey shows that those with young people heading to college, as well as college and graduate students themselves, plan to spend $942.17 each, down from last year’s $969.88. The total of $55.3 billion is an all-time high in the history of the survey, up from last year’s record of $54.1 billion.
Families with children in elementary school through high school plan to spend an average of $684.79, compared to last year’s total of $687.22, for a total of $27.5 billion. That’s the third-highest total in the history of the survey, following the peak of $30.3 billion in 2012 and $29.5 billion last year.
The survey also broke down the type of expected expenditures. Back-to-school shoppers expect to spend:
- $236.90 on clothing
- $187.10 on electronics, such as computers, calculators or phones
- $138.66 on shoes
- $122.13 on supplies such as notebooks, pencils, backpacks and lunchboxes
A news release from the National Retail Federation said the biggest change being seen this year related to expenditures for electronics, which have decreased slightly.
“Items like laptops, tablets and smartphones are now an everyday part of household life and aren’t necessarily a purchase parents save for the start of the school year, resulting in a slight decrease in spending in that category,” Mark Mathews, vice president of research for the National Retail Federation, said in a release.
During Florida’s tax-holiday, it’s important to remember that the exemption is based on the sales price of each item, not the total sale amount. So, it’s possible to buy three $59 dresses at the same time and still get the exemption, because each item meets the requirement of having a selling price of $60 or less.
Another thing that’s good to know is that there is no limit on how many tax-exempt items can be purchased during the sales tax holiday.
Back-to-school supplies and clothing items are tax exempt Aug. 3 through Aug. 5
Clothing is defined as: “any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear (except skis, swim fins, rollerblades and skates) intended to be worn on or about the human body. Clothing does not include watches, watchband, jewelry, umbrellas or handkerchiefs.”
The items must sell for $60 or less to be exempt.
“The exemption does not apply to sales of clothing, wallets or bags in a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment or airport.”
School supplies are defined as: “pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunchboxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses and calculators.”
The school supplies must sell for $15 or less to be exempt.
Published July 25, 2018
