17 States With Back-to-School Tax Holidays

The back-to-school season has changed ever since the pandemic struck, and even though much instruction will take place in-person, some districts will still offer virtual or remote learning. But what’s transformative for the 2022 shopping season is the effect of inflation.

With the CPI reaching an incredible 9.1% in June, costs for all types of school supplies are likely to be much higher than they were in 2021. According to data from the National Retail Federation, 87% of shoppers for kids K-12 say that their shopping in 2022 will be impacted by current economic conditions.

In spite of any negative economic news, back-to-school spending is still expected to jump in 2022. According to the result of a survey conducted by consulting services firm Deloitte, 37% of parents still plan to spend more than they did in 2021. By Deloitte’s calculations, this translates to an average spend of $661 per child in 2022, up 8% from the $612 spent in 2021.Whether your back-to-school shopping list includes new tech or just new clothes, you might be able to save on your purchases if you live in one of these 17 states that have back-to-school tax holidays.

• Dates: July 15-17
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing items costing $100 or less
  • Computers, computer software and school computer supplies with a sales price of $750 or less
  • Other school supplies, school art supplies and school instructional material costing $50 or less 
  • Books costing $30 or less 

• Dates: Aug. 6-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing items costing less than $100
  • Clothing accessories and equipment costing less than $50
  • School supplies, school art supplies and school instructional material

• Dates: Aug. 21-27
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear costing less than $100

• Dates: July 25 – Aug. 7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • School supplies selling for $50 or less per item
  • Clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $100 or less per item
  • The first $1,500 of the sales price of personal computers and certain computer-related accessories purchased for noncommercial home or personal use

• Dates: Aug. 5-6
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear costing less than $125 (reduced rate of 1.25%)

• Dates: Aug. 14-20
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear costing less than $100
  • The first $40 of a backpack or bookbag purchase 

• Dates: Aug. 13-14
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Retail items of up to $2,500 purchased for personal use

• Dates: July 29-30
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear costing less than $100
  • School supplies costing less than $100

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing valued at $100 or less
  • School supplies, up to $50 per purchase
  • Computer software valued at $350 or less
  • Personal computers and computer peripheral devices costing $1,500 or less
  • Graphing calculators costing $150 or less

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and shoes costing less than $100
  • Desktop, laptop, tablets and notebook computers costing $1,000 or less
  • Computer hardware costing $500 or less
  • School supplies under $30 

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing priced at $75 or less
  • School supplies and school instructional material priced at $20 or less

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear costing less than $100

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and accessories
  • Footwear
  • School supplies used for school assignments
  • Computers, software and printers
  • Certain bed and bath supplies 

• Dates: July 29-31
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing items costing $100 or less
  • School and art supplies with a purchase price of $100 or less per item
  • Computers for personal use, tablets and laptops with a purchase price of $1,500 or less

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear sold for less than $100
  • School supplies and backpacks sold for less than $100

• Dates: Aug. 5-7
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Clothing and footwear costing $100 or less per item
  • School supplies costing $20 or less per item
  • Portable generators costing $1,000 or less
  • Gas-powered chainsaws costing $350 or less
  • Chainsaw accessories costing $60 or less
  • Other hurricane preparedness items costing $60 or less
  • Energy Star and WaterSense products purchased for noncommercial home or personal use costing $2,500 or less

• Dates: Aug. 5-8
• What You Can Get Tax-Free:
  • Certain clothing costing $125 or less
  • Certain school supplies costing $50 or less 
  • Certain school instructional materials costing $20 or less
  • Certain sports equipment costing $150 or less 
  • Certain computers and tablets costing $500 or less

It’s a tax holiday every day for these states that have no sales tax year-round:

• Alaska
• Delaware
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• Oregon

Shopping during a tax holiday is just one way you can save on back-to-school shopping. Here are a few other savings tips:

• Use coupons
• Comparison shop for big-ticket items before making any purchases
• Buy school supplies in bulk and split costs with other families
• Shop without kids, who might ask you to buy more expensive items than you had budgeted for
• Buy used books and textbooks
• Take advantage of student discounts
• Shop online with a cash-back or coupon-finding browser extension like Honey
• Don’t forget about the dollar store
• Shop with a cash-back credit card

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John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.