States Back-To-School Tax Holidays: Since the pandemic, the back-to-school season has changed. Most learning will still happen in person, but some districts will still offer virtual or remote learning. But the effect of inflation will change the shopping season of 2022 in a big way.
With the CPI reaching a crazy 9.1% in June, prices for all kinds of school supplies are likely to be much higher than they were in 2021. According to information from the National Retail Federation, 87% of shoppers for kids in grades K–12 say that the economy will affect their shopping in 2022.
Even if there is bad news about the economy, back-to-school spending is still likely to go up in 2022. A survey done by the consulting firm Deloitte found that 37% of parents still plan to spend more in 2021 than they did in 2020. Based on calculations by Deloitte, this means that in 2022, parents will spend an average of $661 per child, which is 8% more than what they spent in 2021 ($612).
If you live in one of the 17 states that have back-to-school tax holidays, you might be able to save money on your back-to-school shopping. This is true whether you need to buy new tech or just new clothes.
- Alabama
- 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
- Arkansas
- 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
- Connecticut
- Dates: Aug. 21-27
- What You Can Get Tax-Free:
- Clothing and footwear costing less than $100
- Florida
- 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
- Iowa
- Dates: Aug. 5-6
- What You Can Get Tax-Free:
- Clothing and footwear costing less than $125 (reduced rate of 1.25%)
- Maryland
- 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
- Massachusetts
- Dates: Aug. 13-14
- What You Can Get Tax-Free:
- Retail items of up to $2,500 purchased for personal use
- Mississippi
- Dates: July 29-30
- What You Can Get Tax-Free:
- Clothing and footwear costing less than $100
- School supplies costing less than $100
- Missouri
- 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
- New Mexico
- 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
- Ohio
- 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
- Oklahoma
- Dates: Aug. 5-7
- What You Can Get Tax-Free:
- Clothing and footwear costing less than $100
- South Carolina
- 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
- Tennessee
- 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
- Texas
- 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
- Virginia
- 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
- West Virginia
- 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
States That Never Have Sales Tax
It’s a tax holiday every day for these states that have no sales tax year-round:
- Alaska
- Delaware
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- Oregon
How To Save Even More on Back-to-School Shopping
One way to save money on back-to-school shopping is to do it during a tax holiday. Here are a few more ways to save money:
- Use coupons
- Compare prices on big-ticket items before you buy anything.
- Buy a lot of school supplies and share the cost with other families.
- Don’t go shopping with kids, who might ask you to buy more expensive things than you want.
- had budgeted for
- Buy used textbooks and books.
- student discounts should be used.
- Honey is a browser extension that helps you get cash back or find coupons when you shop online.
- Don’t forget the dollar store.
- Use a cash-back credit card to buy things.
