Back-to-school shopping bonanza is on as Floridians rush to get tax breaks

With classes about to begin at schools across Florida, back-to-school shopping is picking up at a brisk pace across the Sunshine State while retail advocacy groups are pushing for residents to take advantage of Florida’s tax-free holiday.

A National Retail Federation (NRF) survey recently conducted found shoppers across the country are buying school supplies in earnest as students are about to return to their home rooms at campuses across the land. According to the NRF study, about 55% of shoppers in America had already started buying back-to-school supplies as far back as early July.

Since July 29, when the annual Florida Back-To-School Tax Free Holiday on school supplies began, there were dozens of items devoid of state sales tax if they’re purchased within that time frame. The Florida Retail Federation is engaging in a public awareness campaign to get even more shoppers to take advantage of the sales tax grace period, which ends Aug. 11.

“Back-to-school shopping is one of the most popular times of year for families to hit the stores,” said Florida Retail Federation President and CEO Scott Shalley. “For our families in Florida, the back-to-school tax holiday is a great way to acquire some extra savings and lighten the load during this time of year.”

The NRF survey showed American families generally tend to spend about $874 on clothing and school supplies for kids returning to school this year. That’s only about $15 less than last year’s family expenditure, which was a record according to NRF figures in 2023.

The NRF projects there will be a total of $38.8 billion spent by Americans on back-to-school supplies across the country this year. Online purchases account for the most business with 57% buying items from electronic devices. Another 50% buy their goods at retail department stores and 47% make purchases at discount stores.

Electronic devices will be the most popular back-to-school items purchased by shoppers before classes start with 69% saying they’ll purchase a laptop computer or similar item.

For a full list of items covered for sales tax exemption during the back-to-school holiday go to the Florida Department of Revenue for a list.

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