Florida’s Freedom Week no longer exists as a single bundled sales tax holiday. Starting in 2025, the legislature split its two halves apart: admissions to events, museums, state parks, and fitness facilities became a permanent, year-round exemption, and outdoor gear moved into a separate Hunting, Fishing, and Camping sales tax holiday.1Florida Senate. 2026 Tax Relief Package For 2026, the legislature passed a four-month version of that outdoor-gear holiday to mark America’s 250th anniversary. The tax breaks people associated with Freedom Week are still available; they just live under different names now.
A Quick History of the Name Changes
The original Freedom Week ran for one week in July 2022 and covered a compact list of camping supplies, fishing gear, and event admissions.2Florida Department of Revenue. Tax Information Publication – Freedom Week Sales Tax Holiday In 2024 the legislature stretched the window to the full month of July and rebranded it Freedom Month, adding categories like bicycles, electric scooters, and residential pool supplies.3Executive Office of the Governor. Governor Ron DeSantis Brings More Tax Relief for Florida’s Families Then in 2025 came the split described above, which is the structure carrying into 2026.
Admissions Are Now Tax-Free Year-Round
You no longer need to time ticket purchases to a July window. Admissions to live music, live sporting events, cultural events, movies, ballets, plays, musical theater, museums, state parks (including annual passes), and fitness facilities have been converted from a temporary holiday into a permanent year-round exemption.1Florida Senate. 2026 Tax Relief Package There is no price cap on these admissions.
What’s Coming in 2026 for Outdoor Gear
The 2026 tax package includes a four-month sales tax holiday on camping, fishing, and hunting supplies.1Florida Senate. 2026 Tax Relief Package The Florida Department of Revenue had not published the specific start and end dates or the final item list at the time of writing. Once finalized, they will appear on the Department’s sales tax holidays page, which is the only authoritative source for the year’s exact rules.4Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Holidays and Exemption Periods
Because the 2026 list isn’t out yet, the price caps below are drawn from the 2025 Hunting, Fishing, and Camping holiday, which is the closest match to what 2026 is expected to cover. Items and caps may change.
Camping Supplies
- Tents: $200 or less
- Sleeping bags: $50 or less
- Collapsible camping chairs: $50 or less
- Portable hammocks: $50 or less
- Camping stoves: $50 or less
- Camping lanterns and flashlights: $30 or less
These same items and caps appeared in both the 2024 Freedom Month and the 2025 outdoor holiday.5Florida Department of Revenue. 2025 Florida Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Sales Tax Holiday
Fishing Gear
- Rods: $75 or less individually, $150 or less when sold as a set
- Reels: $75 or less individually, $150 or less when sold as a set
- Tackle boxes and tackle bags: $30 or less
- Bait and fishing tackle: $5 or less per item, or $10 or less when multiple items are sold together
The $5 individual-tackle cap is easy to miss. A single bag of soft plastic lures priced at $6 doesn’t qualify.6Florida Department of Revenue. 2024 Freedom Month Sales Tax Holiday on Specific Admissions and Outdoor Activity Supplies If you’re buying a rod-and-reel combo, the $150 set threshold is measured against the package price rather than each piece.7Florida Department of Revenue. 2025 Hunting, Fishing and Camping Supplies Sales Tax Holiday
Hunting Supplies
Hunting was new for 2025 and wasn’t part of the original Freedom Week or Freedom Month. Qualifying items included firearms, ammunition, bows, crossbows, and accessories such as holsters, cleaning kits, sights, and quivers.5Florida Department of Revenue. 2025 Florida Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Sales Tax Holiday The 2026 holiday is described as covering “camping, fishing, and hunting supplies,” so expect this category to return.1Florida Senate. 2026 Tax Relief Package
Categories That May Not Come Back
Freedom Month in 2024 covered a much wider range of outdoor items than the current holiday: kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, water skis, life jackets, pool floats, snorkels, bicycles, electric scooters, outdoor grills, binoculars, sunglasses, bicycle helmets, water bottles, sunscreen, insect repellent, and residential pool parts and chemicals.6Florida Department of Revenue. 2024 Freedom Month Sales Tax Holiday on Specific Admissions and Outdoor Activity Supplies The 2025 Hunting, Fishing, and Camping holiday did not include any of these.5Florida Department of Revenue. 2025 Florida Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Sales Tax Holiday Whether the 2026 four-month holiday brings any of them back is not yet known. If you’re planning a large purchase in one of these categories and hoping to save the tax, wait for the Department of Revenue to publish the final 2026 list before you buy.
How the Price Caps Work
Every qualifying item has a maximum sales price, and the cap is all-or-nothing. A tent priced at $200 is fully exempt. A tent priced at $201 is fully taxable. The state does not exempt the first $200 and tax the last dollar; the entire purchase gets charged the 6% state sales tax plus your county’s discretionary surtax.8Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax
County surtax rates run from 0.5% to 1.5%, so total sales tax on an item that misses the cutoff lands between 6.5% and 7.5%. Retailers program their registers to apply the exemptions, but check your receipt, especially early in the holiday when system glitches are most common.
Online Orders, Layaway, and Rain Checks
You don’t have to shop in person. Online orders qualify as long as the seller accepts the order during the holiday period, even if shipping or delivery happens later.6Florida Department of Revenue. 2024 Freedom Month Sales Tax Holiday on Specific Admissions and Outdoor Activity Supplies No coupon code or paperwork is needed; the exemption is applied automatically at checkout by any seller registered to collect Florida tax.
Layaway qualifies under either of two scenarios: you take delivery during the holiday, or you place the item on layaway during the holiday, even if the final payment happens afterward. Rain checks work the other way. A rain check issued during the holiday does not preserve the exemption if you actually pay for the item after the holiday ends.9Florida Department of Revenue. Annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday Pay during the window and let the item arrive on its own schedule.
Confirm Before You Buy
The details of Florida’s recreational tax holidays shift every legislative session. Categories get added or dropped, price caps move, and the calendar window can double or shrink from one year to the next. The Florida Department of Revenue publishes a Tax Information Publication for each holiday listing the final qualifying items and dates, and that document is the only reliable source for the exact rules in a given year. Check the Department’s sales tax holidays page before a large purchase you’re counting on being tax-free.4Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Holidays and Exemption Periods