Is There Tax on Clothes in MN? Exemptions and Taxable Items

No, there is no tax on clothes in Minnesota for most everyday apparel. The state exempts human wearing apparel suitable for general use from its 6.875% sales tax, and the exemption applies at any price, so a $20 t-shirt and a $3,000 suit are both tax-free.¹ What trips shoppers up is everything sold alongside clothing: accessories, fur, sports gear, protective equipment, and most clothing-related services are taxable.

What Clothing Is Tax-Free

The exemption under Minnesota Statutes Section 297A.67 covers ordinary garments people wear day to day.² That includes:

Shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, and suits
Coats, jackets, and rainwear
Hosiery, socks, and underwear
Shoes, sneakers, sandals, slippers, and boots, including steel-toed boots
Hats, caps, scarves, gloves, and mittens for general use
Bathing suits, formal wear, and wedding apparel
Costumes and dance costumes
Uniforms, athletic and nonathletic

Minnesota does not cap the exemption at a certain price the way some states do. Every qualifying garment is exempt no matter what it costs.¹

What You Do Pay Tax On

Accessories

Items worn on or with clothing but not treated as general apparel are taxed at the full 6.875% state rate. That covers handbags, purses, wallets, jewelry, watches, and umbrellas. A costume mask sold separately is taxable, though a full costume sold as a single unit is exempt.³

Fur Garments

Fur clothing falls outside the exemption. Minnesota defines fur clothing as apparel required to be labeled as a fur product where the fur’s value is more than three times the value of the next most valuable material. “Fur” means animal skin with the hair, fleece, or fibers still attached, so leather and suede don’t fall in this category. A wool coat is exempt; a mink coat is taxable.⁴

Sports and Recreational Equipment

Athletic clothing you could also wear casually, like gym shorts or a track jacket, stays exempt. Gear designed for a specific sport and not suitable for general use is taxable. That includes baseball, boxing, hockey, and golf gloves; cleated or spiked athletic shoes and ski boots; helmets, mouth guards, and shin guards; roller skates, ice skates, and wetsuits; and life preservers and vests.²

Protective Equipment

Gear whose primary purpose is protecting the wearer from injury or disease is taxable. Hard hats, face shields, safety glasses, non-prescription goggles, breathing masks and dust respirators, ear and hearing protectors, welding gloves and masks, tool belts, and safety belts all fall in this category.²

Work Uniforms and Work Clothing

Standard work uniforms are exempt because they count as general apparel. A restaurant server’s uniform, a delivery driver’s clothing, and a nurse’s scrubs all qualify.³ Clothing with a protective feature like flame-resistant fabric or reflective strips also stays exempt if you could still wear it in general settings. The test is whether the item is primarily designed to protect against injury or disease. A high-visibility jacket suitable for everyday wear is exempt; a standalone hard hat or a pair of welding gloves is not.

Fabric and Sewing Supplies

Materials commonly used to make clothing are exempt: fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, zippers, trim, and interfacing. The exemption applies even if you use the materials for something other than clothing, so yarn for a blanket or fabric for curtains still qualifies.⁵

Sewing tools are taxable. That includes sewing machines, sewing and knitting needles, patterns, pins, scissors, tape measures, and thimbles.⁶

Alterations, Dry Cleaning, and Rentals

Alterations and Repairs

Tax on alterations depends on how the charge is shown. If the alteration fee is included in the clothing’s purchase price and not broken out, the whole transaction is exempt. If the alteration or repair charge is listed separately on the invoice, that charge is taxable.³ Two exceptions: a tailor or seamstress who designs and sews entirely new clothing for you provides a nontaxable service, and shoe repair, dyeing, stretching, and shining are nontaxable.

Dry Cleaning and Laundry

Professional dry cleaning and laundry services are taxable, and tax applies to the full charge, including any environmental response fees passed to the customer. Self-service coin-operated machines are not taxable, though soaps and cleaners sold at the laundromat for use in those machines are.⁷

Rentals

Renting clothing is taxable even though buying the same item would be exempt. Tuxedo rentals for a wedding and costume rentals for an event both carry sales tax.¹

Local Sales Taxes and Delivery Fees

Local city or county sales taxes follow the state’s exemptions. Section 297A.99 requires that anything exempt from state sales tax is also exempt from a political subdivision’s tax, so a tax-free garment stays tax-free even in a city with an added local rate.⁸⁹

One separate charge can still appear on a clothing purchase: Minnesota’s retail delivery fee applies to deliveries of tangible goods, including exempt clothing, when the order meets or exceeds $100. It isn’t a sales tax, but it can add a small charge to online or delivered orders.¹⁰

1
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Clothing
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.67 – General Exemptions
3
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Clothing Sales Tax Fact Sheet 105
4
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Revenue Notice 12-01 Sales and Use Tax Special Fur Clothing Tax
5
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.67 – General Exemptions – Section: Subd. 27
6
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Clothing
7
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Fact Sheet 120 Laundry and Cleaning Services
8
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 297A.99 – Local Sales Taxes
9
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Local Sales Tax Information
10
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Retail Delivery Fee