Shoppers taking advantage of hurricane sales tax holiday

Florida’s hurricane prep tax-free holiday starts Friday

Starting Friday, shoppers in Florida emerging from coronavirus stay-at-home orders can avoid paying sales taxes while putting together disaster-preparation stockpiles for the 2020 hurricane season.

CELEBRATION, Fla. - Shoppers are taking advantage of Florida’s Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday.

It runs from May 29 to June 4.

“I’m getting prepared. Like I said, we’ll see what happens,” JR Hatchett of Kissimmee said.

Experts expect the stores to be packed.

TRACK THE TROPICS: Visit the FOX 35 Orlando Hurricane Center for the latest in the tropics, including daily updates and weather alerts.

“It provides a great opportunity for Floridians to get prepared and save a little money,” Florida Retail Federation CEO Scott Shalley said. “You’re going to see again additional incentives from the retailers to encourage sales for disaster preparation.”

There will be no sales tax on items like generators, tarps, gas cans, and batteries.

“Even though everything is LED now, the batteries will still corrode and go dead and what not so I’ll definitely be getting some batteries right now,” Jacob Crowl of Celebration said.

This hurricane season is expected to be different than others because of the pandemic.

FOX 35 News spoke with the manager at celebration hardware who says you’ll need to add toilet paper, water, hand sanitizer, and masks to your hurricane kit.

“If a hurricane is out and you’re in a watch or a warning, you’re probably too late by then and it’s a lot harder to secure products and everything else from the manufacturer," Celebration Hardware Company manager Sean Barton said.

For a list of items that are included in the tax-free holiday, go HERE.