Illinois’s back-to-school sales tax holiday runs from August 2 through August 11, 2026. During those ten days, the state sales tax rate on qualifying clothing, footwear, and school supplies drops from 6.25% to 1.25%, a five-percentage-point cut that saves you a nickel on every dollar of state tax at the register.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 120/2-10 – Rate of Tax House Bill 4252 authorized the 2026 window using the same framework as the 2022 holiday.
What the Reduced Rate Looks Like
This is a rate reduction, not a full exemption. The state portion of your sales tax drops to 1.25% on qualifying items. Local sales taxes charged by your municipality and county continue at their normal rates.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 120/2-10 – Rate of Tax
On a $100 qualifying purchase, you save $5 in state tax. If your local rate is 2.75%, you still owe that on top of the reduced 1.25%, bringing your total tax to 4% instead of roughly 9%. The savings are real without being dramatic on any single item.
Clothing and Footwear That Qualify
Clothing qualifies if it’s suitable for general everyday wear and priced under $125 per item.2FindLaw. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 120/2-8 – Sales Tax Holiday Items The statute is broad: coats, jackets, rainwear, boots, sneakers, sandals, shoes, slippers, hats, caps, scarves, ear muffs, gloves and mittens, belts, suspenders, neckties, underwear, socks, hosiery, bathing suits, lab coats, and school uniforms all count. If you’d wear it as part of a normal wardrobe, it almost certainly qualifies.
The $125 ceiling applies to each item, not to your cart total. Ten shirts at $120 each all qualify. But a single $126 winter coat gets taxed at the full rate on its entire price. There is no partial discount on the first $125.3Illinois Department of Revenue. Back-to-School State Sales Tax Holiday August 5 Through August 14 2022
School Supplies Have No Price Cap
Unlike clothing, school supplies are not subject to a $125 threshold. Any qualifying supply gets the reduced rate regardless of cost.4Illinois.gov. Governor Pritzker Kicks Off Back To School Tax Holiday August 5 – August 14 The item just needs to be something a student uses in a course of study.
Qualifying supplies include binders, book bags, calculators, cellophane tape, chalk, compasses, composition books, crayons, pencils, pens, ink, erasers, highlighters, folders, notebooks, loose-leaf paper, graph paper, construction paper, poster board, rulers, and protractors.2FindLaw. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 120/2-8 – Sales Tax Holiday Items
Watch the exclusions. Computers, tablets, cameras, cell phones, memory cards, and video equipment are all explicitly excluded from the school supply definition, no matter how essential they feel for schoolwork.2FindLaw. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 120/2-8 – Sales Tax Holiday Items School art supplies and school instructional materials are also excluded.
What Doesn’t Qualify at Any Price
Three clothing-adjacent categories are shut out regardless of price:2FindLaw. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 120/2-8 – Sales Tax Holiday Items
- Clothing accessories: jewelry, watches, handbags, wallets, briefcases, cosmetics, umbrellas, non-prescription sunglasses, wigs, and hair accessories like barrettes and bows.
- Protective equipment: breathing masks, face shields, hard hats, helmets, safety glasses, goggles, paint respirators, safety belts, tool belts, and welding gear.
- Sport and recreational equipment: cleated or spiked athletic shoes, ballet and tap shoes, baseball gloves, boxing gloves, golf gloves, roller and ice skates, shin guards, shoulder pads, ski boots, mouth guards, waders, and wetsuits.
The logic is consistent. Regular sneakers qualify; cleated soccer shoes don’t. Everyday winter gloves qualify; baseball gloves don’t. A plain backpack qualifies as a school supply; a designer handbag doesn’t qualify as anything.
Bundled Items
When a retailer packages qualifying and non-qualifying items together, such as a pencil set sold with a novelty toy, the reduced rate applies only if the qualifying items make up more than half the bundle’s value. Bundled sales involving clothing or footwear are also capped at the $125 per-item limit.3Illinois Department of Revenue. Back-to-School State Sales Tax Holiday August 5 Through August 14 2022
Shopping With the Rules in Mind
The single most useful thing to keep in your head: clothing must be under $125 per item, and school supplies have no price limit. That creates some counterintuitive results. A $200 book bag qualifies for the reduced rate because book bags are school supplies. A $130 winter coat does not qualify because it crosses the clothing threshold.3Illinois Department of Revenue. Back-to-School State Sales Tax Holiday August 5 Through August 14 2022
If you’re buying clothing, stay aware of the $125 cliff. A jacket priced at $124.99 saves you about $6.25 in state tax. The same jacket at $125.01 saves nothing. Some retailers adjust prices during the holiday for this reason, so it’s worth checking whether a store has moved items just below the threshold. For school supplies, don’t hold off on the expensive items thinking they won’t qualify. A $180 graphing calculator gets the reduced rate just like a $2 pack of pencils.