These States Are Having a Tax-Free Back-to-School Shopping Weekend This Month

Photo: Radu Bercan (Shutterstock)

There is no greater harbinger for summer’s end than the reemergence of back-to-school sales. And while your feelings towards this annual calendar event might be complicated, there’s no arguing that the less money spent on pens, markers, paper, folders, and notebooks—so many notebooks—the better.

If you are lucky, you may be one of the Americans in 15 states who can pick up the many items on their back-to-school lists without having to paying sales tax—provided you time things correctly. This year, seventeen states have scheduled back-to-school tax holidays, during which shoppers can stock up on educational supplies for the year while enjoying a bit of financial relief

Unfortunately, the windows have already closed for two of the states, Mississippi and Tennessee. Before your yours follows suit, check the list below to see if you have a chance to save some cash—and before you head to the store, check with your state’s guidelines (linked from each state name on the list below) to see which products are included on the tax-free list.

Note: Some states allow the exemption to be used on school supplies as well as clothing, while other states are a bit more strict, and each state has its own specific guidelines for how many dollars’ worth of supplies you can buy tax-free.