13 sales tax holidays are scheduled for August

July 29, 2025

Binders and pens and more, oh my! Those are just some of the school supplies that are tax-free during Texas’ August sales tax holiday. Lone Star State and 12 others are offering no-tax bargains on selected products this month. Nine of the tax-free back-to-school shopping events are on the month’s first weekend. (Photo by Kay Bell)

The entry sign to my neighborhood lets us residents know that classes will be back in session in a couple of weeks.

It’s meant as a reminder that our streets soon will be busier. School buses will be on the roads. Youngsters will take over the sidewalks, bicycling or walking to the local elementary school, with cautious parents in cars following their semi-independent children’s comings and goings.

The notice also is a cue to get back-to-school shopping lists ready, especially if you live in one of the 13 states that’s holding a sales tax holiday in August.

Yes, Texas is one of them, but we are not first up on the calendar. Nine other states beat Lone Star State shoppers to the punch with sales tax holidays the first weekend of August.

The table below shows the coming August sales holidays. The states are listed alphabetically, and the link dates and qualifying items will take you to state tax department websites for more information about the tax-exempt events.

August 2025 State Sales Taxes Holidays
State & Sales Tax Rate Local sales taxes also may be waived	Holiday Days & Dates	Tax-Free Products & Per-Item Price Limits
Arkansas 6.5%	Saturday, Aug. 2 through Sunday, Aug. 3	Clothing $100 or less Accessories $50 or less No dollar limit on school art supplies, school instructional materials, school supplies, and school-related products such as electronic devices, which includes computers, commonly used by a student in a course of study.
Connecticut 6.35%	Sunday, Aug. 17 through Saturday, Aug. 23	Clothing and footwear $100 or less Accessories and protective or athletic clothing is still taxed.
Florida 6%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 31	Clothing $100 or less School supplies $50 or less Learning aids and jigsaw puzzles selling for $30 or less Computers, certain accessories $1,500 or less More on tax-exempt items during the 2025 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday can be found in the event’s frequently asked questions page under the Consumers tab.
Iowa 6%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Saturday, Aug. 2	Clothing and footwear priced at less than $100; list of tax-exempt items is on page 2 of Iowa Sales Tax Holiday Alphabetical List of Representative Items
Maryland 6%	Sunday, Aug. 10 through Saturday, A u g. 16	Clothing and footwear $100 or less First $40 of a backpack or bookbag
Massachusetts 6.25%	Saturday, Aug. 9 through Sunday, Aug. 10	Almost every personal item priced at $2,500 or less
Missouri 4.225%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3	Clothing $100 or less School supplies $50 or less Computer software $350 or less Graphing calculators $150 or less Personal computers & peripheral devices $1,500 or less Find more on the tax-exempt items in the state’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Hol i day FAQs.
Ohio 5.75%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Thursday, Aug. 14	Most tangible personal property costing $500 or less. Some examples of tangible personal property include, but are not limited to electronics, clothes, home goods, school and office supplies, sports equipment, luggage, and musical instruments.
Oklahoma 4.5%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3	Clothing, footwear $100 or less
South Carolina 6%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3	No purchase price limit on a variety of items, including clothing accessories & footwear; school supplies; computers, printers and printer supplies, computer software; and bed linens and bath furnishings
Texas 6.25%	Friday, Aug. 8 through Sunday, Aug. 10	Clothing, footwear, backpacks priced at less than $100. School supplies at less than $100
Virginia 5.3%* *4.3% state + mandatory statewide local add-on for most jurisdictions	Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3	School supplies $20 or less. Clothing/footwear $100 or less. Hurricane/emergency items, including portable generators $1,000 or less; gas-powered chainsaws $350 or less; chainsaw accessories $60 or less; and other specified preparedness items $60 or less. Energy Star™ and WaterSense™ products for home or personal use $2,500 or less per item.
West Virginia 6%	Friday, Aug. 1 through Monday, Aug. 4	Clothing, footwear $125 or less. School supplies $50 or less. School instruction material $20 or less. Sports equipment $150 or less. Laptop and tablet computers $500 or less. More on tax-exempt items can be found on the state’s Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers page.

Shop wisely: While shoppers love tax holidays (who doesn’t want to get the best of the tax collector, especially legally?), the word tax is a dead giveaway that the events might not be that simple.

As with tax filing, dates matter. While an event might be advertised as a weekend tax holiday, it could be in effect on just Saturday and Sunday, or Friday could make it a long weekend. Or Friday and Saturday if your state discourages shopping on what is the sabbath for many. Make sure you know when the holiday applies.

Checking the tax holiday calendar is the first of 6 shopping tips to maximize sales tax holiday savings. Give it a look, then make your list. That’s also one of the tax holiday shopping suggestions.

You also can check my earlier sales tax holiday post that included the handful of such events in July. That post has more on why state lawmakers continue to authorize tax holidays, despite their revenue costs and hassles for merchants.

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