News

Actions

Diapers & baby wipes could be tax free if approved by Florida lawmakers

Posted at 4:09 AM, Apr 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-03 10:22:14-04

The idea of making baby wipes and diapers tax free is now being grouped into the Florida house tax cut proposal. Legislators spoke about it in a workshop outlining where the more than $300 million in tax cuts next year would come from.

Oleg Khozyayilov's family buys them a lot because his son, who is autistic, still needs them.

"I would gladly pay less," said Khozyayilov. "We are in a more unfortunate situation than others. Others [kids] stop at what age, two years? So he's almost 4."

The price for diapers varies depending on the size and amount. But if you took a box that has 128 diapers, it could cost you about $30.00. If you purchased two of them per month, you'd be spending about $4.00 in taxes. For the year it would be about $50.00.

Many people live in areas without easy access to chain stores. Christina Peguero is a mother of three children, two of them are still in diapers.

"It's something that you use every day. It's like a food," said Peguero. "You need it because if the children are going to a daycare you have to send the diapers there."

Peguero says that coupled with the cost of day care adds up quick.

Governor Rick Scott is proposing a more than $83 billion dollar budget for the next fiscal year. The senate is close to that number in its proposal but the house is about $2 billion less. All three have to agree before the new budget is passed.

"Every dollar counts so if something can be done to make it less I would be happy," said Khozyayilov.