Knox County Tax-Free Weekend: Hours, Price Caps, and Returns

The Knox County tax free weekend runs from 12:01 a.m. on the last Friday of July through 11:59 p.m. the following Sunday, and in 2026 that means Friday, July 31 through Sunday, August 2. During those three days, qualifying clothing and school supplies priced at $100 or less and computers priced at $1,500 or less are exempt from both the 7% state sales tax and Knox County’s 2.25% local option tax, for total savings of up to 9.25%.¹

2026 Dates and Hours

The holiday always falls on the last full weekend of July. In 2026, the window opens at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 31 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 2. The times are set by state statute, so the hours are identical whether you’re shopping in downtown Knoxville, Farragut, West Town Mall, or anywhere else in the county.¹ If you’re at the register at 11:58 p.m. Sunday and the sale processes before midnight, the exemption still applies.

Clothing That Qualifies

Most everyday clothing priced at $100 or less per item is tax-free. Shirts, pants, jackets, coats, shoes, socks, school uniforms, and rain gear all qualify.¹

Accessories and sports equipment stay taxable. Handbags, jewelry, watches, and umbrellas are not exempt. Athletic cleats, ballet shoes, helmets, and other sport-specific gear are classified as equipment rather than clothing, so they remain taxed at the full 9.25% rate.¹

School Supplies and Art Supplies

Classroom materials priced at $100 or less per item are exempt, including binders, notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, and calculators. The statute also creates a separate category for school art supplies at the same $100 threshold, which covers paints, brushes, clay, and sketch pads.¹ The exemption is for personal student use. Supplies bought for a business don’t qualify.

Computers That Qualify

Computers priced at $1,500 or less are exempt, but Tennessee defines “computer” narrowly. A qualifying computer is a central processing unit together with its bundled components: monitor, keyboard, mouse, connecting cables, and any software preloaded at the time of purchase.² Laptops and tablets qualify because they integrate those components into one device.

These items do not qualify, even during the holiday:

Individual peripherals bought separately from a CPU, such as a standalone monitor, keyboard, speakers, or scanner.
Software bought on its own, including antivirus programs and productivity suites. Only software preloaded on a new computer at the initial purchase is covered.
Printers, ink cartridges, and printer paper.
E-readers and video game consoles.

The distinction matters most for desktop buyers. A bundled desktop system where the CPU, monitor, keyboard, and mouse are sold together as a package qualifies as one item. Buy the same pieces separately and only the CPU is exempt.²

How the Price Caps Work

The $100 and $1,500 limits apply per item, not per receipt. Ten qualifying $50 shirts in one transaction are all exempt because each shirt sits under the cap. There are no partial exemptions, though. A shirt priced at $110 is taxed on the full $110, not just the $10 over the line. Retailers also can’t split a product normally sold as a single unit just to slide it under the ceiling.¹

Coupons and Store Discounts

A store discount reduces the item’s sales price, and the discounted price is what counts against the cap. A $120 jacket marked down to $95 qualifies. Store coupons work the same way when the retailer absorbs the discount.¹

Manufacturer coupons behave differently. When the manufacturer reimburses the retailer for the coupon value, the coupon does not reduce the sales price for threshold purposes. A $105 pair of shoes with a $10 manufacturer coupon still has a $105 sales price and doesn’t qualify.¹

Online, Phone, and Layaway Orders

In-store shopping isn’t required. Online and telephone purchases qualify as long as you order and pay during the holiday window and the retailer accepts the order in that same period. Delivery can arrive later without affecting the exemption. If you place an order during the weekend but payment doesn’t actually process until after the holiday ends, you lose the exemption.¹

Shipping and handling are part of the sales price. If every item in the shipment qualifies and each item’s own price fits under the cap, the retailer doesn’t need to allocate shipping to each item to recheck the thresholds.

Layaway follows a different timing rule. The customer must select the item and the retailer must accept the layaway order during the holiday, but full payment and delivery can happen later.¹ For a bigger purchase like a computer, this is one of the few ways to lock in the exemption without paying in full during the weekend.

Returns and Exchanges After the Holiday

What happens if a purchase doesn’t work out depends on what you do with it:

Swapping a tax-free item for the same product in a different size or color triggers no tax, even after the weekend ends.
Returning a holiday purchase and using the credit toward a different item means sales tax applies to the new item at the full rate.
Returning something you bought before the holiday and using that credit during the holiday to buy a qualifying item means no tax on the new item.

For 60 days after the holiday, retailers must collect proof that tax was actually paid before issuing a sales tax refund on a return. Keep your receipts. Without documentation, the retailer has no way to tell a taxed purchase from a tax-free one and won’t refund the tax portion.¹

If a Store Charges Tax by Mistake

Errors happen, especially on items that sit near the price cap or on the line between exempt and taxable categories. Ask the store first. Most retailers can void and reprocess the sale or refund the tax amount on the spot. If the retailer won’t correct it, contact the Tennessee Department of Revenue to request a refund. Hold onto the receipt showing the tax charged, the purchase date, and the item description, and act while the transaction is still fresh.

1
Justia Law. Tennessee Code 67-6-393 – Exemption for Sales Tax Holiday
2
Tennessee Department of Revenue. STH-10 – Sales Tax Holiday – Qualifying Computers