Posted Thursday, Oct 18, 2018
As explained on www.stepupforstudents.org, in 2018, the Florida Legislature created the Hope Scholarship Program. This program was established to provide the parent of a public-school student who was subjected to violence, harassment, and or bullying the opportunity to transfer the student to another public school or request a scholarship for the student to enroll in and attend an eligible private school.
The legislation calls for the program to be funded by sales tax collected through the sale of a motor vehicle. Beginning on October 1, 2018, the purchaser of a motor vehicle (new, used or private sale) is able to donate $105 of the sales tax collected from the sale to the Hope Scholarship Program. It does not cost the purchaser any money. Rather, the money is taken from the sales tax already being collected for the sale of the vehicle. Let's say you purchase a vehicle for $5000. Sales tax is 6%. So the dealer or private seller must collect $300. The buyer can opt to have $105 of the $300 remitted to the Hope Scholarship Program rather than to the Department of Revenue.
As you shop around for your next vehicle, make sure your car dealer or private seller is making this option available to you.