TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — As Floridians recover from Hurricane Ian, there will be a state-wide gas tax holiday through the month of October. The tax relief was already planned before the storm, but the relief could be considered timely.
Approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, the Florida Legislature’s tax legislation provided multiple relief items, from tax-free diapers to relief on disaster preparedness items. The Oct. 1 start to the monthlong tax break at the pump will give residents $0.25 off per gallon when they fill up. It’ll run from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31.
According to a brief by the governor’s office, the fuel tax holiday is expected to save Floridians $200 million through the month of October. Overall, the 10 tax holidays set up by the legislation, drafted in March were expected to save state taxpayers more than $1 billion.
In a release from the Florida Senate about the tax holidays, then-Senate President Wilton Simpson, who is now running for state agriculture commissioner, said it was one step to help Floridians amid record high gas prices and inflation problems.
“Florida cannot independently fix or outrun all of the problems leading to the cost increases that are wreaking havoc on families, especially our most vulnerable. However, we are working to ease the pain with broad-based sales tax relief and a month-long gas tax holiday. This bill supports growing families, Floridians looking to prepare their homes for severe weather, and the blue collar working men and women of our state who are trying their best to get by amid record-high gas prices and inflation that many of us have not seen in our lifetime,” Simpson (R-Trilby) said.
The gas tax holiday is included in a list of “short-term broad-based” tax holidays proposed and passed by state lawmakers.
According to AAA’s gas price tracker, the current gas prices in Florida, as of Sept. 30, are running at $3.39 per gallon. When the fuel tax holiday takes effect Saturday, if prices don’t change too much beforehand, average costs at the pump could be $3.14 per gallon.
