Legislation that would in part provide sales tax relief to Floridians preparing for disasters, is being praised by the president and CEO of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida (PIFF).
House Bill 7071 advanced both chambers on March 14.
Michael Carlson, who leads PIFF, a property and casualty insurance trade association, praised the sales tax holiday for disaster preparedness included in the new bill because “preparedness is the best insurance when it comes to storms in Florida.”
“The work of hardening buildings to make them more impact-resistant can make a big difference, and we’re thankful lawmakers are lowering the cost of mitigation measures through the tax holiday,” Carlson told the Florida Record before the March 14 vote. “Disaster preparedness has been a huge priority of CFO (Jimmy) Patronis, and we’re thankful to the CFO and to lawmakers for working hard to help homeowners lower their windstorm risk.”
HB 7071 (which advanced the Senate 33-0 and the House 107-0) has $1.1 billion in tax savings for families in Florida over two years, a press release stated.
It establishes the “2022 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday,” among other savings. The 14-day disaster preparedness sales tax holiday on disaster preparedness supplies will run from Saturday, May 28 to Friday, June 10.
“Some examples of tax-free items include: Flashlights and lanterns costing $40 or less; radios costing $50 or less; tarps costing $100 or less; coolers costing $60 or less; batteries costing $50 or less; smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors costing $70 or less; and, generators costing $1,000 or less,” the press release said. “The holiday also includes a number of items related to the safe evacuation of household pets.”
Retail sales of impact-resistant windows, doors and garage doors have a two-year sales tax exemption from this year on July 1 to June 30, 2024.