TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Friday, Florida state lawmakers approved the annual budget as part of the latest special session.
But as part of this process, the Legislature also OK’ed a new slate of tax rules that may affect residents across the state.
[RELATED: Could Florida ELIMINATE property taxes?! Here’s what we know]
The rules come as part of HB 7031E, which was rolled into this year’s overall state budget plan. The legislation still requires a signature from Gov. Ron DeSantis to take effect, though.
In the meantime, below is a lineup of these new tax rules, per legislative analysts:
SALES TAXES
- Back-to-School Tax Holiday — The new back-to-school sales tax holiday created last year will now begin on July 20 (before school starts) and run through Aug. 20 each year.
- New Tax Holiday — Creates a new hunting, fishing and camping sales tax holiday from Sept. 1 - Dec. 31 this year. The items covered by this provision are as follows:
| Item | Sales Price Cap |
|---|---|
| Tents | $200 |
| Fishing rods and reels (sold as a set) | $150 |
| Fishing rods and reels (sold individually) | $75 |
| Sleeping bags | $50 |
| Portable hammocks | $50 |
| Camping stoves | $50 |
| Collapsible camping chairs | $50 |
| Camping lanterns | $30 |
| Flashlights | $30 |
| Tackle boxes or bags | $30 |
| Bait or fishing tackles (multiple sold together) | $20 |
| Bait or fishing tackles (sold individually) | $10 |
| Ammunition | -- |
| Firearms | -- |
| Firearm accessories (ex: holsters, barrels) | -- |
| Bows | -- |
| Crossbows | -- |
| Arrows and bolts | -- |
| Quivers, sights and wristguards | -- |
- Home Hardening — Allows purchasers of home hardening products — such as impact-resistant doors, garage doors and windows — to seek a sales tax refund for purchases between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2029.
- Propane Tanks — Creates a permanent tax exemption for propane tanks with a capacity of 20 pounds or less.
- State Universities — Allows state colleges and universities to obtain refunds for sales tax paid by contractors on materials used in public works contracts.
- Sports Tournaments — Exempts admissions to any Association of Tennis Professionals’ ATP Masters 1000 tournament or any Women’s Tennis Association’s WTA 1000 tournament from sales taxes through July 1, 2029.
- Heavy Trucks — Allows purchasers of certain heavy trucks to designate up to $105 of sales tax paid to an eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization under the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.
PROPERTY TAXES
- Mobile Home Parks — Limits annual assessment increases for certain mobile home parks to 3% starting on Jan. 1, 2027.
- Save Our Homes — Allows the “Save Our Homes” benefit to transfer to a new homestead from any homestead abandoned in the prior three years.
- Listing Websites — Requires online properly listing platforms to include the estimated property taxes for residential properties.
- Intelligence Officers — Lets a homeowner continue to qualify for homestead benefits when the property is rented to another person, so long as the homeowner is a diplomatic, intelligence, consular, or foreign service officer of the federal government who is required to live outside of Florida.
- Military Members — Adds additional named military operations for the deployed servicemember property tax exemption and allows deployments in 2023, 2024 and 2025 on named operations to qualify for the exemption.
OTHER RULES
- School Levies — Removes the requirement for a board of county commissioners to call an election for school district levies, instead requiring school board-approved resolutions to be voted on by voters in the next general election held over 90 days after adoption.
- Alarm Systems — Extends a temporary exemption through June 30, 2028, for non-interest-bearing written obligations to pay $3,500 or less, when given by a customer to an alarm system contractor for the sale of an alarm system.
- Slot Machines — Reduces the tax on slot machine revenues from 35% to 34%.
- Cardroom Revenues — Reduces the gross receipts tax on cardroom revenues from 8% to 5%.
- Childcare Program — Extends the Child Care Tax Credit Program through FY 2027-2029.