US Sales Tax – Disaster preparedness and hurricane sales tax holidays

Some states enact disaster preparedness sales tax holidays in advance of hurricane season. The holiday allows consumers to purchase certain qualifying items either exempt from sales tax or at a reduced rate of tax. Examples of these states are: Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

Florida 

  • The Hurricane Sales Tax Holiday in Florida takes place during the month of June. The state imposes threshold requirements for items eligible for the holiday. Qualifying items below the applicable threshold are exempt from tax. Items priced over the threshold are fully taxable. The holiday does not apply to the rental or repair of qualifying items. More information can be found at: http://floridarevenue.com/DisasterPrep/Pages/default.aspx.

Louisiana 

  • The Louisiana Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday takes place on the last consecutive Saturday and Sunday each May. During the sales tax holiday, eligible purchases are subject to a state sales tax rate of only three percent, applicable to the first $1500 of the sales price of each eligible item. A list of qualifying items can be found at http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/SalesTax/SalesTaxHolidays.

Texas 

  • The Texas Hurricane Preparedness Holiday occurs during the last consecutive Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in April. During the holiday period, certain items are exempt from sales tax subject to threshold requirements.  Texas sets thresholds at $75, $300, and $3000 for eligible items. Qualifying items under the threshold are tax free, while items priced over the threshold are fully taxable. More information on eligible items and the thresholds applying to each can be found at: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1017.php.

The QBO system is set up during these periods to apply the exemption or reduced rate for the following qualifying tax categories during the holiday dates in the specified state. In order to take advantage of the holiday rate, the appropriate tax category must be used in the transaction.

  • Retail > Disaster Preparedness Supplies – Safety > Safety Supplies
  • Retail > Disaster Preparedness Supplies – Food > Food Related Supplies
  • Retail > Disaster Preparedness Supplies – Fastening > Fastening Supplies
  • Retail > Disaster Preparedness Supplies – other > All Other Supplies

Caution: In choosing a disaster preparedness tax categories, the system presumes that you have reviewed the items qualifying for the holiday and the product you are selling is eligible for Sales Tax Holiday treatment.

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