Most shoes are not taxed in Pennsylvania. The state treats footwear as clothing, and clothing is exempt from the 6% sales tax when it’s designed as ordinary everyday wear. The shoes that do get taxed are the ones built for a specific sport or for formal occasions. Price doesn’t matter; the type of shoe does.
Everyday Shoes Are Exempt
Pennsylvania’s footwear regulation lists four categories as tax-free: ordinary shoes, overshoes, safety shoes, and sneakers.1Cornell Law Institute. 61 Pa Code 53.2 – Footwear, Footwear Accessories and Footwear Repairs The broader clothing rule confirms that shoes fall inside the definition of exempt clothing when they’re designed as ordinary or everyday wear.2Cornell Law School. 61 Pa Code 53.1 – Clothing
In practice, that covers what you’d expect: work boots, rain boots, sandals, children’s shoes, casual sneakers, and the leather shoes you wear to the office. Steel-toed safety shoes are exempt too, which surprises shoppers who assume protective footwear gets classified as equipment.
Sport and Formal Shoes Are Taxed
The exemption stops at footwear designed for formal occasions or particular sports. The regulation names the taxable examples directly: shoes for formal wear, ski boots, bathing shoes, bowling shoes, golf shoes, baseball shoes, and football shoes.1Cornell Law Institute. 61 Pa Code 53.2 – Footwear, Footwear Accessories and Footwear Repairs Sporting goods and formal day or evening apparel are taxable under the clothing rule as well.2Cornell Law School. 61 Pa Code 53.1 – Clothing
What matters is design purpose, not how you personally use the shoes. Cleated baseball shoes stay taxable even if you only wear them in the yard. Regular sneakers stay exempt even if you run marathons in them, because sneakers are general-purpose footwear. A pair of leather oxfords worn to work is ordinary shoes; a pair of tuxedo shoes is formal wear.
The Rate When a Shoe Is Taxable
Pennsylvania’s statewide sales tax is 6%.3Cornell Law School. 61 Pa Code 31.5 – Persons Rendering Taxable Services Allegheny County adds 1% for a 7% total, and Philadelphia adds 2% for an 8% total.4Department of Revenue. Use Tax For Individuals Those local add-ons apply only when the shoe itself is taxable. An exempt pair of sneakers stays exempt in Philadelphia the same as anywhere else.
Laces, Polish, and Other Extras
Pennsylvania draws a specific line with shoe accessories. Anything that attaches to the shoe is exempt: replacement laces, soles, heels, shoe polish, and shoe dye. Anything that stays separate is taxable: shoe brushes, polish applicators, and shoe trees.1Cornell Law Institute. 61 Pa Code 53.2 – Footwear, Footwear Accessories and Footwear Repairs The pattern is straightforward once you see it. If the item becomes part of the shoe, it’s treated like the shoe. If it lives in your closet next to the shoe, it’s a separate taxable product.
Shoe Repairs
Repairs and alterations to footwear are tax-free. Pennsylvania specifically exempts charges for repairing, altering, mending, pressing, fitting, dyeing, laundering, dry cleaning, or cleaning clothing and footwear, and the regulation uses a shoe repair shop fixing a heel as its own example.3Cornell Law School. 61 Pa Code 31.5 – Persons Rendering Taxable Services Repair services on most other tangible property are taxable in Pennsylvania, so this exemption is a carve-out worth knowing about.
Buying Shoes Online
The exemption follows the shoe, not the store. If a pair of shoes would be tax-free at a Pennsylvania retailer, they’re tax-free when shipped to a Pennsylvania address.
Since July 2019, under Act 13 of 2019, any online seller or marketplace facilitator with more than $100,000 in annual Pennsylvania gross sales must register and collect Pennsylvania sales tax.5Department of Revenue. Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax – Online Retailers Amazon, eBay, and other large platforms collect the tax for third-party sellers on their sites. If you buy from a smaller out-of-state retailer that doesn’t collect the tax, you owe use tax directly to the Department of Revenue at the same 6%, 7%, or 8% rate that would have applied in a store.4Department of Revenue. Use Tax For Individuals Use tax applies only to items that would have been taxable in Pennsylvania, so exempt shoes stay exempt no matter where you buy them.
No Price Cap, No Tax Holiday
Pennsylvania’s clothing exemption has no dollar limit. A $50 pair of sneakers and a $500 pair of everyday leather boots are both fully exempt, because the exemption turns on the type of footwear, not the price.
Pennsylvania also does not hold a sales tax holiday for clothing or footwear. Everyday shoes are already exempt year-round, so the absence of a holiday mainly matters for taxable footwear like golf shoes, ski boots, or tuxedo shoes, which stay taxable every day of the year.