Sales Tax Holidays 2026: Full Calendar by State

Key Takeaways

• Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia have statewide sales tax holidays or targeted exemption periods in 2026.

• Most back-to-school holidays fall in July or August. Other periods cover hurricane supplies, energy-efficient products, firearms and hunting equipment, or purchases by eligible service members.

• Clothing, school supplies, and computers commonly qualify. States often apply per-item price caps, and each state sets its own eligible products and transaction rules.

• Most 2026 back-to-school holidays have passed. Later in the year, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and other states still hold Second Amendment, Energy Star, and hurricane-preparedness periods.

Which 2026 sales tax holidays are still ahead?

Most July and August back-to-school holidays have ended for 2026. Retailers should still check the full calendar because later eligibility depends on the state, holiday type, and exact purchase date.

• Louisiana’s Second Amendment holiday falls in early September.

• Nevada’s targeted holiday for qualifying National Guard members occurs around Nevada Day.

• Some longer seasonal exemptions may continue into the fall, including holidays for hunting equipment or hurricane supplies where enacted.

What is a sales tax holiday?

A sales tax holiday is a temporary, state-legislated period when specified products qualify for a sales tax exemption. Each state sets its own dates, eligible categories, price caps, and local tax treatment. No federal sales tax holiday applies nationwide, so retailers must follow the rules in each participating state.

Which states have a 2026 sales tax holiday?

The table lists statewide holidays and excludes local programs, which may follow different dates and caps.

What state-specific rules should I know about?

States with more than one holiday

Several states divide their holidays by purpose. Alabama holds separate severe-weather and back-to-school weekends. Maryland pairs an Energy Star appliance holiday with its August clothing and footwear week. Mississippi offers a back-to-school holiday and a Second Amendment holiday.

Texas runs three distinct events. Its spring holidays cover emergency-preparation supplies and qualifying Energy Star or water-efficient products. Its August weekend covers clothing, footwear, school supplies, and backpacks within the applicable price limit. Virginia combines school supplies, clothing, hurricane-preparedness products, and certain efficient appliances into one weekend instead.

New Mexico adds a Small Business Saturday deduction to its August back-to-school holiday. The November event applies only to qualifying purchases from eligible small businesses, so a large retailer cannot apply the exemption based on the product alone.

Unusual eligible categories

Hurricane and severe-weather holidays use category-specific limits rather than one cap for the entire purchase. A portable generator may receive a much higher limit than batteries, flashlights, or reusable ice packs. Alabama, Texas, and Virginia also define eligible emergency products differently, so you cannot copy one state's product list into another state's checkout rules.

Energy-focused holidays commonly cover approved appliances rather than every product marketed as efficient. Maryland and Missouri generally rely on Energy Star qualification. Texas separately covers certain Energy Star products and water-efficient products during Memorial Day weekend. Model-level product data therefore affects whether the register removes tax.

Mississippi's Second Amendment holiday covers qualifying firearms, ammunition, and hunting supplies. Definitions still control. General outdoor equipment or clothing does not automatically qualify because a customer plans to use it while hunting.

Calendar changes and temporary programs

Formula-based holidays move on the calendar even when lawmakers leave the underlying rule unchanged. A statute may specify the first weekend in August or the weekend before a particular Monday. Retailers should load the published 2026 dates instead of copying fixed dates from a 2025 configuration.

Ohio requires extra attention because its expanded annual holiday reaches a wider range of tangible personal property than a traditional back-to-school weekend. State officials set the annual period under Ohio's current framework, and exclusions still apply even when an item falls below the general price ceiling.

Florida has used both recurring holidays and temporary, legislatively approved programs in recent years. A Florida exemption offered in 2025 should not be treated as active in 2026 unless the 2026 calendar or enacted law confirms it. Temporary tool, outdoor, or recreation programs are especially easy to carry forward by mistake.

Local tax treatment can create another variation. Some state holidays bind local jurisdictions, while other programs allow local participation decisions or apply different rules to local tax. Alabama retailers, for example, must confirm whether each locality participates in the severe-weather and back-to-school holidays. Your point-of-sale configuration should follow the jurisdiction attached to the transaction rather than a single statewide switch.

How does a sales tax holiday affect my filing and returns?

Your sales tax return should usually include transactions made during a holiday in gross sales, even when the items qualified for an exemption. You then report the qualifying amount in the return’s exempt sales or deduction field. State forms use different labels and may require separate state and local figures, so follow the instructions for each jurisdiction.

For example, suppose your store records $50,000 in gross sales during a filing period, including $10,000 of holiday-exempt clothing. The return would generally show $50,000 in gross sales, a $10,000 exemption or deduction, and $40,000 in taxable sales. Reporting only $40,000 as gross sales omits valid transactions rather than documenting why no tax applied.

Incorrect coding can create discrepancies during an audit. Your payment processor and general ledger may show $50,000 in sales while the filed return shows only $40,000. An auditor may then request transaction records to explain the difference. If your point-of-sale system classifies taxable items as holiday-exempt, you may also underreport tax due and face assessments, interest, or penalties.

Each holiday transaction should retain enough detail to support the exemption. Your records should identify the item, its selling price, the sale date, and the jurisdiction applied at checkout. When a holiday uses a per-item price cap, the records should also show that each exempt item fell below the applicable limit.

Your month-end review should reconcile gross sales in the return against the ledger before you submit it. The review should also compare exempt sales with holiday transaction reports and investigate unusual exemption totals. A large difference between checkout data and return figures often points to omitted sales, incorrect tax codes, or exemption rules that remained active after the holiday ended.

How should I prepare for a sales tax holiday?

• You should confirm each jurisdiction’s rules before changing checkout settings. Record the start and end times, eligible product codes, price caps, and treatment of state and local tax. Some local jurisdictions follow the state holiday, while others apply different rules.

• Your POS should apply exemption caps to the correct unit of sale. Under a $100 per-item clothing cap, three shirts priced at $80 each may qualify even though the cart totals $240. Some systems incorrectly compare the $240 cart total with the $100 cap and charge tax. Your configuration must also distinguish rules that tax an over-cap item in full from rules that tax only the amount above the cap.

• Your tax rules should account for discounts and bundled products. A discount can move an item below the exemption cap, and state law determines whether a store coupon or manufacturer coupon changes the qualifying price. Bundles may require separate product treatment when one component qualifies and another does not.

• You should test checkout with realistic transactions before the holiday starts. Test items below, at, and above each cap. Include mixed taxable and exempt carts, discounts, exchanges, refunds, buy-one-get-one offers, and orders split across multiple shipments. Check the receipt and transaction export as well as the amount charged to the customer.

• Multi-state retailers should schedule each jurisdiction separately. Holiday windows often overlap without sharing the same start time, end time, categories, or caps. A single nationwide tax-off setting can exempt the wrong products outside one state while turning off the correct exemption too early in another. Use shipping destination for online orders when the applicable sourcing rule requires it, and account for the destination’s time zone near midnight.

• You should coordinate settings across every sales channel. Store registers, ecommerce platforms, ERP systems, and marketplace feeds may update on different schedules. Assign one owner to verify activation and expiration in each channel, and keep a rollback plan if a rule deploys incorrectly.

• Your staff should know how to handle exceptions without overriding valid tax rules. Give customer service and store employees guidance for disputed items, exchanges after the holiday, and orders delayed by payment or inventory issues. Manual overrides should require a reason code so you can review them after the holiday.

• You should reconcile holiday transactions immediately afterward. Compare expected exempt sales with POS exports and investigate unusual tax totals before the next return cycle. Early review gives you time to correct configuration errors and customer charges while transaction details remain easy to trace.

How Taxwire helps

Taxwire removes the handoff between holiday calculations and return preparation. For transactions calculated through Taxwire, its proprietary engine applies item eligibility, price caps, and exempt-item coding automatically. Retailers do not need to maintain those rules manually for each participating state.

Taxwire’s in-house tax team prepares returns from the same transaction data. The team can reconcile taxable and exempt sales without requiring finance staff to rebuild holiday activity in spreadsheets or pass reports between separate calculation and filing providers.

Multi-state retailers that do not know where they have filing obligations can start with Taxwire’s free nexus study. The study provides an initial view of potential exposure based on business presence and transaction data. Taxwire can then handle registration, calculation, filing, and remittance where obligations apply.

FAQ

Do online purchases qualify for a sales tax holiday?

Online purchases generally qualify when the item, delivery destination, and transaction timing meet the participating state's rules. The shipping address usually determines which state's holiday applies. Marketplace and retailer websites may still charge tax when they cannot verify eligibility at checkout, so review the state guide before requesting a correction.

Do layaway purchases qualify?

Layaway eligibility depends on when state law treats the sale as completed. Some states cover items placed on layaway during the holiday, while others use the final payment or pickup date. Check the applicable state's rules before removing tax.

What happens when a customer returns or exchanges an item after the holiday?

A return generally produces a refund based on the tax charged during the original purchase. An even exchange may remain exempt, but a replacement with a higher price or different product may create tax on the new transaction. Retailers should retain the original receipt and apply the state's exchange rules.

Does the purchase date or shipping date determine eligibility?

States may use the order, payment, acceptance, or delivery date to decide whether an online sale falls within the holiday. A shipment leaving the warehouse after the holiday does not automatically make the purchase taxable. Backorders, delayed payments, and canceled orders may receive separate treatment under state guidance.

Which time zone controls an online order placed near midnight?

State rules and the retailer's transaction records determine whether an order falls before the cutoff. Retailers should map order timestamps to the time zone used by the destination state rather than relying only on server time. Orders placed near midnight require special review when the customer, seller, and server operate in different time zones.

Closing takeaway

Sales tax holidays create audit exposure when retailers apply exemptions incorrectly or report holiday transactions under the wrong codes. States may assess the retailer for uncollected tax, penalties, and interest. Reconciliation work and customer corrections add further cost. Retailers should treat each holiday as a temporary tax rule that requires the same controls as any other rate or product-taxability change.

Reviewed by Steffani Pace, CPA, of Taxwire, in September 2026.