August is prime sales tax holiday time

July 31, 2023

Get ready Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia shoppers. Your back-to-school tax holidays are coming up in August. And yes, Floridians, your event wraps up this week.

School supplies at HEB_Texas Sales Tax holiday items

Many school supplies, like these at my local grocery store, will be sales-tax-free in Texas later this summer. (Photo by Kay Bell)

With August just one day away, it’s definitely time for parents and youngsters alike to get ready for the reopening of classrooms.

Yes, those two groups likely will celebrate (or not) differently. But there’s one thing they can share, shopping for school clothes and supplies.

That’s why August is the big month for back-to-school sales tax holidays. Of the 17 scheduled this year, 14 are in August, including Florida’s summer tax-free shopping event. It kicked off July 24 and wraps up Sunday, Aug. 6.

The rest of August will see sales tax holidays in Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.

Most of these special tax-exempt shopping days will be this coming weekend. Some will start on Friday, Aug. 4, with a few beginning Saturday. And most will end on Sunday, Aug. 6. But not all.

The precise starting and ending dates for August’s sales tax holidays are listed alphabetically by state in the table below. The information comes from the various state tax departments, as well as the Sales Tax Institute and Federation of Tax Administrators.

2023 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. 5 through Sunday, Aug. 6	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. 20 through Saturday, Aug. 26	Clothing and footwear $100 or less Accessories and protective or athletic clothing is still taxed.
Florida 6%	Monday, July 24 through Sunday, Aug. 6	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 2023 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday can be found in TIP No. 23A01-06.
Iowa 6%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Saturday, Aug. 5	Clothing and footwear priced at less than $100
Maryland 6%	Sunday, Aug. 13 through Saturday, Aug. 19	Clothing and footwear $100 or less First $40 of a backpack or bookbag sale
Massachusetts 6.25%	Saturday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Aug. 13	Almost every personal item priced at $2,500 or less
Missouri 4.225%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6	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 Holiday FAQs.
New Jersey 6.625%	Saturday, Aug. 26 through Monday, Sept. 4	Computers less than $3,000 School computer supplies less than $1,000 No price limit on school supplies, school art supplies, school instructional materials, and sport or recreational equipment Details on the tax-exempt items can be found at the state’s special online sales tax holiday page.
New Mexico 5%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6	Clothing or shoes $100 or less Computers $1,000 or less Computer hardware $500 or less There is no price limit on school supplies that “students normally use in a standard classroom for educational purposes.” FYI-203, Gross Receipts Tax Holiday, contains more information on the exempted sales.
Ohio 5.75%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6	Clothing $75 or less School instructional materials & school supplies at $20 or less
Oklahoma 4.5%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6	Clothing, footwear $100 or less
South Carolina 6%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6	No purchase price limit on clothing accessories & footwear; school supplies; computers, printers & printer supplies, computer software; & bed linens & bath furnishings
Texas 6.25%	Friday, Aug. 11 through Sunday, Aug. 13	Clothing, footwear, backpacks priced at less than $100 Cloth and disposable fabric face masks meet the definition of an article of clothing and therefore are tax exempt during this weekend. School supplies at less than $100
West Virginia 6%	Friday, Aug. 4 through Monday, Aug. 7	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: As noted in my earlier post on the full summer 2023 schedule of state sales tax holidays, most of these special shopping days are billed as back-to-school events. That’s why most feature items youngsters need for class.

But even those with that moniker also tend to be more inclusive. They’re not limited to children’s clothing. And you don’t have to prove that the computer you buy is only going to be used by the young students’ homework.

So pay attention to what is tax-exempt (or not). The links in the table will take you to official lists of eligible items.

Knowing what’s tax-free is one of the 6 shopping tips to maximize sales tax holiday savings. Check that post out, then make your list, which also is of the tax holiday shopping suggestions.

Addendum: My tumblr blog Tumbling Taxes’ related post has Macklemore’s video “Thrift Shop” for your tax holiday shopping playlist.

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Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings.

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year.

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

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