What you get from Florida Sales Tax Holidays

Gov. Ron Desantis has announced a budget proposal for this month’s fiscal year. He is pleased that his recommendations include sales tax holidays to help consumers save by stocking and saving on hurricane season and returning school essentials.

The proposed sales tax holiday is expected to save consumers an astounding $296 million in savings. Whether you buy hurricane supplies to protect your home or store essentials for students returning to school, Floridians will benefit from low costs during these important shopping periods .

Additionally, annual sales tax holidays give Floridian much needed breaks to hidden swipe fees.

Credit card companies with reported profit margins above 50% will charge a hidden swipe fee for all credit card transactions. Swipe fees are calculated as a percentage of the total cost. So, the more you spend, the more they charge you.

Everything you place on your credit card will be charged a swipe fee. Not only do you buy from retail stores, but there are also some great service, charitable donations to churches and local nonprofits, and even tips to add for sales tax. There is no limit to corporate greed, as evidenced by the fact that they even charge a fee on sales tax you have to pay. Credit card companies use every opportunity to collect swiping fees and increase consumer costs while smoking billions of dollars from our economy.

During disaster prevention tax holidays and school tax holidays, consumers will not pay sales tax on essentials. Furthermore, because there is no consumption tax, credit card companies cannot obtain sales tax. Floridians saves an estimated $8.8 million by avoiding the hidden swipe fees financial institutions make in their pockets. So it’s not just a holiday from sales tax, but also a holiday from predatory swipe fees.

The impact of inflation remains heavily on Florida’s family budget. All dollars are counted. The opportunity to cut costs and save hard-earned money makes sense. During tax exemption, you can save taxes and avoid hidden swipe fees.

We thank Desantis and the Florida Legislature for our continued commitment to creating saving opportunities each year. This is an additional benefit if you are also given a break from the swipe fee with tax cuts hidden. I hope lawmakers will increase the opportunities for consumers to reduce unnecessary fees.

Scott Sharley is president and CEO of the Florida Retail Federation and represents 270,000 retailers across the state of Sunshine.