The Kansas tax-free weekend is on the books but not currently scheduled. Senate Bill 55 created an annual four-day back-to-school sales tax holiday each August, exempting clothing, school supplies, computers, and software from state and local sales tax. Kansas does not appear on the active sales tax holiday lists for 2025 or 2026, so confirm the program’s status with the Kansas Department of Revenue before you plan purchases around it.1Federation of Tax Administrators. 2025 Sales Tax Holidays2Avalara. 2026 Sales Tax Holidays
The framework described below is the one SB 55 put in place effective July 1, 2023. If the holiday is running in a given year, these are the rules that apply.3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
When the Holiday Runs
Under SB 55, the holiday is four days long. It starts at 12:01 a.m. on the first Thursday in August and ends at midnight on the following Sunday. That is a Thursday-through-Sunday window, wider than the Friday-through-Sunday format used in some neighboring states.3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
For purchases that cross time zones, the seller’s location controls. If you shop online from a retailer based elsewhere, the holiday window follows the seller’s clock, not yours.
What Qualifies and the Price Caps
Four categories qualify, each with its own per-item price cap. If an item is priced above its cap, it is fully taxable. There is no partial exemption for going a dollar over.3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
- Clothing and accessories: $300 or less per item
- School supplies, instructional materials, and art supplies: $100 or less per item
- Prewritten computer software: $300 or less per item
- Computers and school computer supplies: $2,000 or less per item
The cap is per item, not per receipt. Three shirts at $250 each all qualify. A single $310 jacket does not qualify at all.
Clothing
The law defines clothing broadly as human wearing apparel suitable for general use. That covers shoes, coats, uniforms, bathing suits, sandals, and underwear, along with less obvious items like adult and child disposable diapers, steel-toed shoes, costumes, lab coats, and wedding apparel.3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
A few things that sound like clothing don’t qualify: belt buckles sold separately, costume masks sold separately, and patches or emblems sold separately. Sewing supplies and materials, including fabric, thread, buttons, zippers, yarn, sewing machines, and patterns, are also excluded.
School Supplies
The school supply list is all-inclusive, meaning if an item isn’t named, it doesn’t qualify. Eligible items under SB 55:3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
- Pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, and crayons
- Loose-leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, construction paper, legal pads, writing tablets, and index cards
- Binders, expandable folders, pocket folders, plastic folders, and manila folders
- Calculators, compasses, protractors, rulers, scissors, and pencil sharpeners
- Glue, paste, paste sticks, and cellophane tape
- Book bags, lunch boxes, pencil boxes, index card boxes, and other school supply boxes
- Composition books, notebooks, erasers, and blackboard chalk
Items that often surprise shoppers by their absence include textbooks, electronic tablets, and wheeled backpacks unless they qualify as book bags. If it’s on your child’s supply list but not on the statute’s list, it’s taxable.
Computers and Software
Computers qualify at the highest threshold, $2,000 or less per item. Prewritten computer software qualifies separately at $300 or less. The school computer supply category covers a specific set of accessories:3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
- Computer storage media, including diskettes and compact disks
- Handheld electronic schedulers, excluding devices that are cellular phones
- Personal digital assistants, excluding devices that are cellular phones
- Computer printers
- Printer supplies, including printer paper and printer ink
Watch the cell phone exclusion. A tablet that is also a phone is out.
Online and Phone Orders
Qualifying items ordered online or by phone are covered if you order and pay during the holiday window and the seller accepts the order for immediate shipment. Immediate shipment simply means you haven’t asked for delayed delivery. Back orders and the seller’s own fulfillment delays don’t disqualify a purchase.3Kansas Legislature. Kansas Senate Bill 55 – Sales Tax Holiday
A seller accepts an order when it takes action to fill it. For mail orders, that’s stamping a received date. For phone orders, assigning an order number counts. Practically: place the order and pay during the four-day window, and the exemption holds even if the package shows up weeks later.
What You’ll Save
Kansas charges a state sales tax of 6.5%, and cities and counties add local taxes on top. Combined rates vary across the state. Both state and local portions are waived on qualifying items during the holiday.
A family buying a $1,500 laptop, $600 in clothing, and $80 in school supplies would save roughly $142 to $220 or more depending on local rates. The computer category is where the numbers get largest, since the $2,000 cap covers most student laptops and desktops.
Common Mistakes
The most common error is assuming everything school-related qualifies. Textbooks aren’t on the school supply list. Neither are tablets that double as phones, furniture like desks and chairs, or sporting equipment. If the statute doesn’t name it, the exemption doesn’t cover it.
The per-item price cap trips people up too. A $350 winter coat gets no exemption, even though it’s clearly clothing. Bundles are another trap. A computer-and-software package sold as one line item above $2,000 is fully taxable, where buying the computer and the software separately, each under its own cap, keeps both exempt.