New York does not have a tax-free week. It doesn’t need one, because the state permanently exempts most clothing and footwear priced under $110 per item from its 4% sales tax, every day of the year. The exemption has been in effect year-round since 2006, was briefly suspended, and was permanently restored in April 2012.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption Whether you actually pay zero at the register depends on your county, because local sales tax is a separate matter.
The $110 Per-Item Rule
The exemption applies to each individual item, not your total at checkout.2New York State Senate. New York Tax Law 1115 – Exemptions From Sales and Use Taxes Five shirts at $100 each ring up with no state sales tax, even though the total is $500, because each shirt stands alone under the threshold.
Once a single item hits $110, the whole price becomes taxable. A $115 coat is not taxed on the $5 over the limit; it’s taxed on the full $115. The line is sharp, and a $109.99 jacket and a $110 jacket get very different treatment at the register.
Alterations
Tailoring charges don’t push you over the threshold as long as the store lists them separately on the receipt. Reasonable, separately stated alteration fees are excluded from both the sales tax and the $110 calculation.3New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. TSB-M-02(4)S – Taxability of Alterations to Clothing A $105 pair of pants with a $15 hemming charge stays exempt if the receipt breaks the amounts out. Bundle it all into one $120 line and the whole amount counts, and you’ll owe tax on all of it.
Monogramming, logo application, and silk screening are not alterations under this rule. Those charges are taxable and do count toward the $110 figure.3New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. TSB-M-02(4)S – Taxability of Alterations to Clothing
Coupons
How a discount reaches you changes the math. A store’s own markdown or store coupon generally brings the item’s price down for threshold purposes, so a $120 jacket marked down by the retailer to $99 falls under the exemption. Manufacturer coupons work differently: because the manufacturer reimburses the retailer, the full pre-coupon price is often treated as the sale price for tax purposes. Don’t assume a manufacturer coupon that brings a $115 item to $100 will make it exempt.
What Qualifies as Clothing
The exemption covers items worn on the body that most people would consider everyday clothing. The Department of Taxation and Finance publishes detailed lists.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing Exempt items include:
- Shirts, pants, dresses, coats, underwear, and socks
- Bridal gowns, tuxedos, and graduation caps and gowns when purchased (not rented)
- Occupational, military, scouting, and sport uniforms
- Winter coats, rain jackets, and fur clothing
- Aerobic wear, yoga pants, and similar workout apparel
- Wet suits and dry suits
- Fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, zippers, and snaps that become part of a finished garment
Fur clothing surprises many people. New York treats fur coats like other clothing, exempt as long as the item costs less than $110.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing
What Still Gets Taxed
Not everything you wear qualifies. The state separates clothing from accessories, equipment, and novelty items.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption Taxable items include:
- Jewelry, watches, handbags, wallets, key cases, and umbrellas
- Barrettes, bobby pins, elastic ponytail holders, hair bows, and headbands (sweatbands are exempt)
- Helmets, shin guards, shoulder pads, baseball mitts, and goggles
- Ice skates, roller skates, and in-line skates
- Halloween costumes, party costumes, and rented formal wear
- Nonprescription sunglasses and safety glasses
- Needles, patterns, scissors, pins, thimbles, measuring tapes, and chalk
The costume rule trips up parents every October. A child’s everyday dress is exempt; the same store’s princess costume is taxable. Rented tuxedos and rented formal wear stay taxable too, even though the purchased versions qualify.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing Fabric and thread are exempt because they become part of the finished garment, but the tools you use to work with them are not. Your yarn is tax-free; your knitting needles are not. Materials made from pearls, precious stones, or precious metals also lose the exemption even if they’ll be sewn into clothing.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption
Where You Actually Pay Zero
New York sales tax has two layers: the 4% state rate and a local rate set by each county or city.5New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Find Sales Tax Rates The state’s 4% is always waived on qualifying clothing. Each locality decides independently whether to waive its share, and most do not.
Localities that fully exempt qualifying clothing from both state and local tax include New York City, Chautauqua, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Hamilton, Monroe, Putnam, and Tioga counties, among others. Buy a $90 pair of boots in any of these places and the receipt shows zero sales tax.6New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 718-C – Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear
In most other New York counties, you still save the 4% state portion but pay the local share. Local rates range from 3% in places like Saratoga and Washington counties up to 4⅞% in Yonkers, with most non-exempt counties charging 4%. Nassau County sits at 4⅝% and Suffolk County at 4¾%.6New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 718-C – Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear
Shoppers in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District pay an additional ⅜% MCTD tax. That tax is also waived on qualifying clothing, but only in MCTD localities that have opted in.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption Counties and cities can change their participation, but changes only take effect on March 1 of each year, and the Department of Taxation and Finance updates Publication 718-C when they do.7New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Sales Tax Rate Publications
Online Purchases
The exemption applies the same way online. A qualifying item bought from an internet retailer that collects New York sales tax gets the same treatment at checkout, and most large online retailers already handle this in their tax calculations. If your delivery address is in a county that waives the local share too, you’ll see zero sales tax on the order.