Nine States to Hold Sales Tax Holidays August 7-9, 2020

Iowa

Iowa will hold its annual sales tax holiday on select clothing and footwear on August 7-8, 2020. This allows shoppers to purchase eligible clothing and footwear selling for less than $100 per item tax-free. Businesses that sell eligible items and are open on these dates are required to participate in the sales tax holiday.

For more information about Iowa’s sales tax holiday on clothing and footwear, please refer to the Iowa Department of Revenue website.

Missouri

Missouri will hold its annual back-to-school sales tax holiday August 7-9, 2020. During this time, the following items can be purchased tax-free:

• Clothing – $100 or less per item;
• School supplies – $50 or less per item;
• Computer software – $350 or less per item;
• Personal computers – $1,500 or less per item;
• Computer peripheral devices –$1,500 or less per item; and
• Graphing Calculators – $150 or less per item.

It is important to note that cities, counties and districts in Missouri can choose not to participate in this sales tax holiday. If one or all of the local taxing jurisdictions do not participate in the sales tax holiday, the state's portion of the tax rate (4.225%) will remain exempt for the sale of qualifying sales tax holiday items.

For more information, review the Missouri Department of Revenue’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday Frequently Asked Questions and information page.

New Mexico

New Mexico will hold a sales tax holiday on select clothing, school and art supplies and computers August 7-9, 2020. New Mexico requires specified retailers to provide a deduction from gross receipts for retail sales of qualifying tangible personal property, selling the items “tax free.” 

The law limits the tax holiday deduction to receipts of retailers from sales of the following types of items:

• Clothing or shoes sold for less than $100; however, accessories and special clothing or footwear primarily designed for athletic activity or protective use and not normally worn beyond the scope of the athletic activity or protective use remain taxable;
• Desktop, laptop, notebook or tablet computers sold for no more than $1,000, and any associated monitor, speaker or set of speakers, printers, keyboards, microphones or computer mice sold for no more than $500; and
• School supplies students normally use in a standard classroom for educational purposes for $30 or less per item. (The law specifically lists notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, bookbags, backpacks, handheld calculators, maps and globes as deductible during the tax holiday.)

For a comprehensive list of taxable and nontaxable items, please refer to New Mexico Bulletin B-200.18.

South Carolina

South Carolina will hold its annual sales tax holiday August 7-9, 2020. During the sales tax holiday, a variety of back-to-school essentials are exempt from the state's six percent sales tax rate and any additional local taxes. Unlike other sales tax holidays across the country, there are no price restrictions on eligible goods.

Items that are tax exempt during this sales tax holiday include:

• Clothing and accessories (including but not limited to hats, scarves, hosiery and handbags);
• Footwear;
• School supplies (including, but not limited to pens, pencils, paper, binders and notebooks);
• Computers, printers/printer supplies and software; and
• Select bed and bath items (including, but not limited to blankets, bedspreads and pillows).

Please refer to South Carolina Revenue Ruling 10-7 for the complete list of tax-exempt items or visit the South Carolina Department of Revenue webpage for more information.

Florida

Florida will hold its annual sales tax holiday August 7-9, 2020. During this period, qualifying items will be exempt from tax including:

• Certain school supplies selling for $15 or less per item;
• Clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $60 or less per item; and
• Computers and certain accessories selling for $1,000 or less per item when purchased for noncommercial or personal use.

For more information and a list of qualifying items, please review the Department of Revenue's Tax Information Publication (TIP) on the 2020 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday, as well as the Frequently Asked Questions document.

Ohio

Ohio will hold its annual sales tax holiday for clothing and school supplies on August 7-9, 2020.
During the holiday, the following items are exempt from sales and use tax:

• Clothing (including, but not limited to footwear, hats and diapers) priced at $75 per item or less;
• School supplies (including, but not limited to binders, folders, highlighters and writing tablets) priced at $20 per item or less; and
• School instructional materials (including reference books, reference maps and globes, textbooks and workbooks) priced at $20 per item or less. 

It is important to note that items used in a trade or business are not exempt under this sales tax holiday. The sales tax holiday is set by law and vendors are required to comply.

For more specific information, please refer to the Ohio Department of Taxation Sales Tax Holiday Frequently Asked Questions.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma will hold its annual sales tax holiday on eligible clothing and footwear under $100 per item during August 7-9, 2020. This excludes any accessories, special clothing or footwear primarily designed for athletic activity or protective use, as well as the rental of clothing or footwear.

Retailers that sell eligible items and are open for business on these dates are required to participate in the sales tax holiday.

For more information about Oklahoma’s sales tax holiday, please refer to the Oklahoma Tax Commission website.

Texas

Texas is holding its annual sales tax holiday from August 7-9, 2020. During this time, consumers can purchase select clothing and footwear, school supplies and backpacks, with a purchase price of $100 or less per item, free of state and local sales tax.

This exemption includes backpacks with wheels and messenger bags. You can buy up to 10 backpacks tax-free at one time without giving an exemption certificate to the seller.

Additional charges by the seller such as delivery, shipping, handling and transportation are part of the item’s sale price.

For more information on this sales tax holiday, visit the Comptroller of Texas’s website.

Virginia

Virginia will hold a combined sales tax holiday on select clothing, school supplies, footwear, hurricane and emergency preparedness items and Energy Star and WaterSense products August 7-9, 2020.

During the sales tax holiday, the following types of products can be purchased without paying sales tax:

• Qualified school supplies sold for less than $20;
• Hurricane and emergency preparedness products (such as portable generators with a sales price of $1,000 or less per item, gas-powered chainsaws with a sales price of $350 or less per item, chainsaw accessories with a sales price of $60 or less per item and other specified hurricane preparedness items with a sales price of $60 or less per item);
• Qualified clothing and footwear sold for less than $100; and
• Qualifying Energy Star or WaterSense products purchased for noncommercial home or personal use with a sales price of $2,500 or less per item.

For more information, visit the Virginia Taxation and Revenue Department for the 2020 Sales Tax Holiday Guidelines.