No tax on concerts, movies, more July 1-7

Michael Bubl performs in concert in 2019.
Michael Bubl performs in concert in 2019.
Ben Houdijk via Shutterstock

In August Michael Buble is set to perform a concert in Jacksonville. Tickets start at $65 on Ticketmaster, but many fans won’t have to pay tax on top of that, thanks to legislation signed into law Friday.

Among other provisions in HB 7061, Florida’s Tax Cut Package, state residents will pay no sales tax the first week of July on purchases of tickets and season or annual passes to state parks and events that happen from July 1 through the end of 2021.

The bill also includes annual disaster preparedness and school supplies tax holidays and establishes a new permanent sales tax exemption for seniors making purchases of independent living items such as bed transfer handles, bed rails, grab bars, and shower seats.

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“We put our seniors first,” DeSantis said about health care and vaccinations during the pandemic. He said the permanent sales tax exemption was an extension of that effort and would help with “decreasing the cost of living” for seniors on fixed income.

Outdoor recreation purchases including the first $500 of the sales price of canoes or kayaks, and the first $200 of the sales prices of tents are part of the July 1 to July 7 tax break.

“We typically do sales tax holidays for back to school and the emergency preparedness tax holiday,” DeSantis said, adding that lawmakers wanted to go further and except tickets to cultural events. “If you look around the country, we are a free state.”

DeSantis said lawmakers deserve credit for coming up with the idea to “celebrate both our economic and recreational freedom” in the Sunshine State.

“This tax package will include the first ever freedom week, a seven-day sale tax holiday on outdoor recreational purchases as well as tickets for events, museums, the arts and more,” DeSantis said. “We’re proud of being a free state, we’re proud of being open and we want taxpayers to be able to benefit if they’re participating in all these things.” 

The back-to-school tax holiday runs from July 31 to August 9, and the disaster preparedness tax holiday starts next week on May 28 through June 6.

Any tickets purchased from July 1 to July 7 must be for events scheduled to occur in Florida between July 1 and December 31st, 2021.

DeSantis encouraged residents to buy season passes to Florida state parks that week and added that annual memberships to fitness facilities are also included in the new tax holiday.

“No states have had more events this year than Florida,” DeSantis said at the signing ceremony.

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