2026 Sales Tax Holiday Calendar: Every State's Tax-Free Weekend Dates

This Week: July 31 – August 2, 2026

Three states' tax-free periods begin today, July 31, and a fourth's back-to-school window is already in progress:

Tennessee -- Jul 31 (12:01am) to Aug 2, 2026 (11:59pm). Clothing and school supplies $100 or less per item; computers $1,500 or less.
New Mexico -- Jul 31 (12:01am) to Aug 2, 2026 (midnight). School supplies $30 or less; clothing/shoes under $100; computers $1,000 or less; computer equipment $500 or less.
West Virginia -- Jul 31 through Aug 3, 2026 (the Friday before the first Sunday in August through the following Monday). Clothing $125 or less, computers $500 or less, school instructional materials $20 or less, school supplies $50 or less, and sports equipment $150 or less.
Arkansas -- Aug 1 (12:01am) to Aug 2, 2026 (11:59pm). Clothing and footwear under $100/item, accessories under $50/item; school, art, and instructional supplies and electronic devices have no price cap at all in Arkansas.

Florida is also mid-holiday right now: its back-to-school exemption runs the full month from Jul 20 through Aug 20, 2026 -- computers $1,500 or less, clothing $100 or less, school supplies $50 or less, and learning aids $30 or less (confirmed directly against the Florida Department of Revenue's 2026 back-to-school page).

Next Weekend: The Big August 7-9 Wave

The single largest cluster of 2026 sales tax holidays lands the following weekend, when six states go tax-free at once and three more open multi-day windows the same week:

Texas -- Aug 7 to Aug 9, 2026 (confirmed on the Texas Comptroller's official notice). Clothing, footwear, school supplies, and backpacks each under $100, with no limit on the number of qualifying items.
Virginia -- Aug 7-9, 2026. School supplies $20 or less, clothing/footwear $100 or less, plus hurricane-prep items (generators $1,000 or less) and Energy Star products $2,500 or less bundled into the same weekend.
Ohio -- Aug 7 (12:00am) to Aug 9, 2026 (11:59pm). Clothing $75 or less per item; school supplies and instructional materials $20 or less per item. Ohio's broader 10-day, wide-category holiday from 2024-2025 was repealed, reverting to this narrower 3-day version for 2026.
Missouri -- Aug 7-9, 2026. Clothing $100 or less, school supplies $50 or less, software $350 or less, computers/peripherals $1,500 or less, graphing calculators $150 or less.
Oklahoma -- Aug 7-9, 2026 (the first Friday-Saturday-Sunday of August). Clothing and footwear under $100 per item.
South Carolina -- Aug 7-9, 2026. Clothing, accessories, footwear, school supplies, and computers/printers/software all qualify.
Illinois -- Aug 7-16, 2026 (10 days). Clothing and footwear $125 or less; school, art, and instructional supplies; computer supplies. Note this is a reduced rate (6.25% down to 1.25%), not a full exemption, and local taxes still apply.
Iowa -- Aug 7-8, 2026 (first Friday-Saturday of August). Clothing and footwear under $100 per item.
Massachusetts -- Aug 8-9, 2026. Nearly any tangible personal property for personal use, $2,500 or less -- one of the broadest category lists of any state's holiday. The legislature re-authorizes this holiday every year; the 2026 dates were formally adopted on June 11, 2026.

Mid-to-Late August and September

Maryland -- Aug 9-15, 2026 ("Shop MD Tax-Free Week"). Clothing and footwear $100 or less per item, plus the first $40 of a backpack or bookbag.
Connecticut -- Aug 16-22, 2026 (the third Sunday in August through the following Saturday). This is a bigger holiday than in past years: the item cap jumped from $100 to $300 per item, and cleated shoes and backpacks were newly added as qualifying items.
Mississippi Second Amendment Weekend -- Aug 28-30, 2026. Firearms, ammunition, and hunting supplies, with no price cap.
Louisiana Second Amendment Weekend -- Sep 4-6, 2026. Firearms, ammunition, and hunting supplies (including archery, apparel, optics, and tree stands), also uncapped.
Florida Hunting, Fishing & Camping -- Sep 1 to Dec 31, 2026. A separate, four-month exemption on hunting, fishing, and camping gear that requires fresh legislative renewal every year (unlike Florida's back-to-school holiday, which is permanent).

A few holidays for 2026 have already come and gone: Alabama's back-to-school window ran Jul 17-19, Mississippi's ran Jul 10-12, and Maryland's Energy Star weekend ran Feb 14-16. If you're reading this after one of these dates, note them for planning next year rather than this one.

States With No Sales Tax Holiday in 2026

Several states either never adopted a sales tax holiday or have discontinued one. If your state isn't listed below or above, it likely falls here: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia (the state's holiday statute exists on the books but has never actually been funded), Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. New Jersey permanently repealed its sales tax holiday. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon don't need one -- they have no statewide sales tax at all (Alaska's Skagway municipality runs its own seasonal rate reduction, but that's a local rule, not a statewide holiday). If you live in one of these states, check whether your city or county assesses a separate local sales tax year-round instead -- that's often a bigger factor in your total rate than any one-time holiday would be.

How Sales Tax Holidays Actually Work

The price cap almost always applies per item, not per transaction. Buying five shirts at $80 each in Texas is fully exempt even though the total is $400 -- because each shirt, individually, is under the $100 cap. But one $150 jacket does not become partially exempt; if a single item exceeds its state's cap, the whole item is taxable, not just the amount over the limit.

Not every category most people assume is included actually is. Texas explicitly excludes computers, software, and textbooks from its clothing-and-school-supplies holiday, along with jewelry, handbags, and specially-designed athletic gear like golf cleats or football pads (ordinary sneakers and swimsuits still qualify because they're commonly worn outside sports). Always check your specific state's qualifying-item list rather than assuming a category is covered.

Online and mail-order purchases generally qualify too, as long as the order is accepted and payment is made during the holiday window and the seller has nexus in that state -- but an item ordered before the holiday and merely delivered during it typically does not qualify, and the reverse is also true in most states.

A few states only offer a reduced rate, not a full exemption. Illinois's back-to-school period drops the state rate from 6.25% to 1.25% rather than to zero, and local sales taxes generally still apply on top of that. Skagway, Alaska's seasonal program is a municipal rate cut, not an exemption.

Local jurisdictions can opt in or out in some states. Alabama's holiday is opt-in at the city/county level, meaning not every Alabama locality actually honors it even though the state exemption applies statewide.