As a Floridian, I enjoy the lack of an income tax, which has the downside of a six percent sales tax plus applicable county and city sales taxes. We give more than we receive to the Feds. Sales tax can be a pain, and as a Floridian, we have a tradition of Sales Tax holidays. The two most notable are the Back to School Tax Holiday and the Hurricane Prep Tax Holiday.
If Governor Desantis gets his wish, we’ll soon have a 2A Tax Holiday. Not just a day, weekend, or week, but a 2nd Amendment Summer. Desantis proposed the 2A Tax Holiday with his new state budget. The plan would eliminate sales tax on any guns, ammo, and related accessories. This effectively chops off 6% of the price.
The Value of a Tax Holiday
As a man who despises taxes and loves guns, this is clearly good news. This could knock tens of dollars off your average firearm sale. What immediately came to my mind was paying a little less for ammo. The 2A Summer Tax Holiday could knock a 6% minimum off a box of ammo.
Let’s say I combine that with my Academy Card which gets me 5% of my purchase. If I combine those two, I’m looking at a minimum of 11%, but in reality, it will be closer to 13% when they eliminate local taxes, too. If I head to the Academy and buy steel-cased Monarch ammo, it typically costs 10.80 after taxes.
Minus the taxes and my Academy card, I’m paying less than ten dollars a box out the door. That’s almost pre-Covid prices. I could get a .223 brass case for less than .45 cents a round. That’s fantastic.
The summer is a big sales slump for the gun industry. This could be a fairly nice boost to the industry, at least from Florida. As someone who loves the industry they’re in, I want to see it succeed. I’m not sure how much Florida could contribute to the overall industry, but maybe more than a small amount.
Since the holiday lasts the entire summer, it won’t be one week where you can’t find ammo on shelves. The amount of time it offers seems to be able to diffuse and prevent a giant rush on one weekend.
My Questions About the Tax Holiday
I, like most of you, order a lot online. This is especially true for ammo. Will retailers acknowledge the tax holiday? One can only hope. Since the holiday lasts the entire summer, it’s worth changing their shopping cart. I’m not sure how out-of-state tax and sales work, but I would hope it would allow retailers from out-of-state to benefit from the state sales tax.
The big question is, will it pass? It’s got to be approved by the legislature, and it’s not the only tax holiday up for grabs. If it doesn’t pass, it will allow us to see the RINOs in Florida’s legislature and name and shame any anti-gun politicians. I’m hoping to see a tax-free 2A summer.
