Tax-Free Shopping for Back to School

I’m lucky enough to live in a state that doesn’t charge sales tax on clothing. This helps tremendously with saving money when shopping for back-to-school clothing, and is one of the reasons that when we go outlet shopping, we like to target states with no sales tax–such as New Hampshire.

The good news is that you, too, can enjoy some tax-free shopping, without leaving the comfort of your home state. That’s because for a few weeks each summer, many U.S. states offer sales-tax holidays–when, just as it sounds, you can shop without paying sales tax. Now that’s not to say that your won’t pay any sales tax on what you buy. There are usually certain criteria that vary from state to state.

Why am I telling you this now? Well, it fits with this week’s back-to-school theme, and because this coming Friday starts tax-free shopping holidays in a handful of states. So heads up that August 7-9 may be the best days for you to head out and shop for back-to-school necessities.

Here’s a date-by-date, state-by-state rundown (as best as I could research) on upcoming sales tax holidays.

(Note: If your state does not appear here, it’s because it either does not participate in a tax-free holiday, your state canceled its tax-free holiday this year, or the date for that holiday has already passed.)

August 7-9
Alabama Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing costing less than $100 per item; computers and supplies costing less than $750 each; basic school supplies costing less than $50 each; books under $30 each (does not include magazines).
Iowa Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing and footwear priced under $100. Note: Holiday is August 7 & 8 only.
Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday: Any purchase (excluding vehicles) up to $2,500. (Cha-ching, if you’ve got $2,500 to spend!) Note: Holiday is August 7 & 8 only.
Missouri Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing priced at $100 or less; school supplies costing $50 or less per purchase; computer software priced at less than $350, and computers and peripheral devices (such as a printer or scanner) each cheaper than $3,500.
New Mexico Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing prices at $100 or less; computers costing $1,000 or less; school supplies costing less than $15 (man, that’s not very much, is it!)
North Carolina Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing, footwear, and school supplies of $100 or less per item; school instructional materials of $300 or less per item; sports and recreation equipment of $50 or less per item, computers of $3,500 or less per item. (Wow, that’s pretty generous!)
Oklahoma Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing and shoes costing less than $100 each.
South Carolina Sales Tax Holiday: Amazingly, there is no price limit on the sales tax-free products you can buy during this “holiday.” Those products include clothing, footwear, school supplies (pens, papers, notebooks, etc.), computers (including printers, supplies and software) and, get this, dorm room supplies (such as blankets, bed sheet sets, bath towels, shower curtains, bath rugs and mats, pillows, and pillow cases).
Tennessee Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing and schools supplies, each costing $100 or less; and computers prices at $1,500 or less.
Virginia Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing costing less than $100; and school supplies costing less than $20.

August 16-22
Connecticut Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing and footwear costing less than $300.

August 21-23
Texas Sales Tax Holiday: Clothing and footwear priced under $100; backpacks under $100–meaning traditional backpacks/book bags. Messenger bags and hiker dude backpacks don’t qualify. Also, school supplies costing less than $100. (The school supply part is new in 2009.)
Vermont Sales Tax Holiday: Any purchase under $2,500. Note: Sales-tax holiday is August 22nd only!

Happy tax-free shopping!