Sales tax gets vacation

Paper, pencils, wallets, footwear, bags, textbooks and clothing will be a little less expensive Aug. 12-15 if a bill passed by the Florida House April 7 gets approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

The three-day sales tax holiday in the committee substitute for House Bill 733 eliminates the state's 6% sales tax plus additional local option sales taxes. Clothing and textbooks up to $75, and school supplies costing up to $15, will be exempt from sales tax beginning after midnight Aug. 12.

A study done for the Florida Retail Federation shows that the state will receive a net increase of $7 million in sales tax revenue, compared with what would have been collected with no incentive, because of higher sales of taxable merchandise.

A House staff estimate shows it will cost the state $34.7 million in lost revenue and that local governments would lose $7.5 million. But those figures are based on the original version of the bill that put the price limit at $100 for clothing and textbooks, $15 for school supplies, and allowed the tax break on computer-related equipment costing up to $750.