Florida Sales Tax Holiday 2025

"back to school" spelled in colorful lettering against a bright blue background with various school supplies — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Updated: The 2025 back-to-school sales tax holiday in Florida has ended.

Floridians are no strangers to tax holidays. But this year, Florida residents were in for something new.

The Sunshine State's annual August sales tax holiday was one month long, thanks to the new Florida sales tax holiday changes for 2025. This meant that many purchases of electronics, clothing, and school supplies were tax-exempt all of August.

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Let's look at the ins and outs of this back-to-school tax holiday in 2025.

When was tax-free shopping in Florida?

The annual back-to-school Florida sales tax holiday was one month long — so you had all of August to shop!

The tax-free holiday started on Friday, August 1, and ran through Sunday, August 31, 2025. Many school supplies (including laptops and tablets) and clothing were exempt from Florida’s usual 6% sales tax rate during this time.

Tax-free school supplies in Florida

Shoppers could save on most items under a certain dollar amount. For instance, clothing must have cost $100 or less per item, school supplies must have cost $50 or less, personal computers and tablets $1,500 or less, and learning aids and jigsaw puzzles $30 or less.

There were many school supplies you could purchase tax-free in the state during the sales tax holiday, but here were a few highlights:

Hats, shoes, shorts, pants, shirts, underwear, socks, and raincoats
Backpacks, book bags, handbags, purses, and lunch boxes
Cleated and spiked shoes and swimsuits
Notebooks, scissors, pens, pencils, and calculators
Printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, and routers
Electronic books, flashcards, puzzle books, and matching games
Hair accessories, wallets, and belts

While many eligible items were included in the one-month Florida tax holiday, there were a few exceptions.

Did Florida’s tax-free holiday apply to online purchases?

Online purchases could qualify, but delivery to a Florida address was required.

Online retailers like Amazon may honor state sales tax holidays. However, the retailer explains on its website that "tax may still be calculated on items if they do not qualify, including threshold limits, bundles, orders placed prior to the holiday starting or specific items that are not included in the holiday."

What items were not tax-exempt in Florida’s back-to-school holiday?

Accessories like jewelry and watches were not tax-free, nor were many types of athletic gloves. A few additional exclusions applied.

Clothing. Umbrellas and protective masks were taxable, as were roller skates, rented clothing, and non-prescription sunglasses and goggles.

School supplies. Taxable items included printer or computer paper, and books not otherwise exempt.

Electronics. Many electronics were taxable, including computer bags, CDs and DVDs, computers for recreational use, smartphones, surge protectors, tablet covers, game controllers, and digital cameras.

Miscellaneous items. Furniture, luggage, garment bags, suitcases, and any rentals of eligible items were taxable and excluded from the tax-free holiday.

Note: For a complete list of included and excluded items, visit the Florida Department of Revenue website. Most groceries and prescription drugs were already tax-exempt.

Do theme parks and airports participate in the FL tax-free days?

You may have found it harder to save as a tourist. According to Florida’s Department of Revenue, you are taxed on purchases from “a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment, or airport" during tax-free holidays.

This rule may be due to the nature of the holiday. The general purpose of a state sales tax holiday is to benefit state residents, though whether sales tax holidays accomplish this effectively is still up for debate.

Kate is a CPA with experience in audit and technology. As a Tax Writer at Kiplinger, Kate believes that tax and finance news should meet people where they are today, across cultural, educational, and disciplinary backgrounds.