With the Fourth of July well behind us now, the next thing to look forward to is the first day of school.
OK, some may be more excited about that than others, but at least there’s an opportunity to save money when shopping for school supplies.
This year will bring something different for Florida residents used to the short sales-tax holiday of prior years.
This year, you’ll have a month to purchase school supplies, with the sales-tax holiday lasting from before students return to the classroom to a few weeks afterward.
In Florida, most schools will start on the earliest date possible, Aug. 11.
Here’s what you should know.
When is the Florida back-to-school sales tax holiday for 2025?
The back-to-school sales tax holiday will be held from Aug. 1 through Aug. 31 in 2025.
The month-long holiday replaces the two-week tax holiday held in prior years.
What school supplies can I buy tax-free in Florida?
Items exempt from sales tax from Aug. 1-31 include:
A full list of qualifying items will be “coming soon” and posted at floridarevenue.com/backtoschool, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
What’s the earliest date Florida schools can start for the 2025-2026 school year?
Florida law prohibits school districts from starting earlier than Aug. 10.
Since Aug. 10 falls on Sunday this year, the earliest start date for the 2025-2026 school year is Monday, Aug. 11.
Fifty-six out of Florida’s 67 counties will start the school year on Aug. 11. The remaining will start later the same week, between Aug. 12 and Aug. 14.
When does school start in Florida? List of all 67 Florida counties
Several new Florida laws affecting schools went into effect July 1
More than 150 new laws went into effect on July 1, including several that affect schools and education. Here’s what you should know about some of them:
➤ See a complete list and more details about each law
HB 296: Middle School and High School Start Times
SB 1470: School Safety
HB 1105: Education
HB 85: Hazardous Walking Conditions
HB 248: Student participation in Interscholastic and Intrascholastic Extracurricular Sports
SB 1514: Anaphylaxis in Public and Charter Schools
HB 1607: Cardiac Emergencies
SB 1102: School Readiness Program
HB 259: Special Observances (Fentanyl Awareness Day)
SB 356: Holocaust Remembrance Day
HB 443 — Education
HB 447: Disability History and Awareness Instruction (Evin B. Hartsell Act)
HB 549: Gulf of America (Schools)
HB 597: Diabetes Management in Schools
HB 809: School Social Workers
SB 958: Type 1 Diabetes Early Detection Program
HB 1145: Workforce Education
SB 1374: School District Reporting Requirements
HB 1237: Human Trafficking
HB 1255: Education
SB 1402: Students Enrolled in Dropout Retrieval Programs
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ready for school? Didn’t think so, but here’s when to save money during Florida sales tax holiday
Reporting by Cheryl McCloud, C. A. Bridges and Samantha Neely, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
