Missouri Tax-Free Weekend: Dates, Price Caps, and What Qualifies

Missouri’s tax-free weekend in 2026 runs from 12:01 a.m. Friday, August 7 through midnight Sunday, August 9. During those three days, qualifying clothing, school supplies, computers, and software are exempt from all state and local sales tax, as long as each item falls under its price cap. The holiday applies statewide, in every city and county, and online orders count as long as the purchase is completed inside the window.¹

What Qualifies and the Price Caps

Five categories are exempt, each with its own per-item ceiling:²

Clothing and footwear: $100 or less per item
School supplies: $50 or less per purchase
Graphing calculators: $150 or less
Computer software: $350 or less
Personal computers and peripherals: $1,500 or less per item

The caps are hard cutoffs. A $95 pair of jeans is fully tax-free. A $110 sweater is fully taxable, not just taxable on the $10 above the limit. Each item is judged on its own, so three $80 shirts in one transaction are all exempt because the cashier doesn’t add them together. A store discount or manufacturer coupon that drops the shelf price below the cap makes the item qualify at the lower price.

Clothing: The Pair Rule and What’s Excluded

Clothing covers anything intended to be worn on the body, including shoes, boots, and disposable diapers for infants or adults. Fabric and material bought to make school uniforms also qualifies.²

Items normally sold in pairs can’t be split to get under the cap. If a pair of shoes rings up at $120, you can’t buy one shoe at $60 and claim the exemption. The whole pair is taxable.

Several accessories stay taxable regardless of price: watches and watchbands, jewelry, handbags, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, handkerchiefs, and belt buckles.²

School Supplies: What Counts

The $50 cap covers items normally used by students in a standard classroom: textbooks, notebooks, paper, pens and pencils, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, chalk, maps, and globes. Graphing calculators and software get the higher caps noted above because they cost more.²

Several things students might use are specifically carved out and stay taxable: radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, telephones, copiers, office equipment, furniture, and fixtures.²

Computers: What’s In, What’s Out

A personal computer under the statute is a laptop, desktop, or tower system with a processor, memory, a storage drive, a display, and a keyboard. Peripherals designed to work with a computer, such as monitors, external keyboards, and printers, are also covered up to $1,500 each.²

Cell phones and tablets do not qualify. The law excludes portable and desktop telephones, and devices that don’t meet the full personal computer definition get no exemption, even if they’re used for schoolwork.²

Online Orders, Layaway, and Rain Checks

Online purchases qualify under the same rules as in-store buying. The transaction has to be completed during the three-day window. You don’t have to live in Missouri to shop tax-free.¹

Layaway qualifies two ways: you make the final payment and pick up the item during the weekend, or the store accepts your layaway order during the weekend for later delivery once you pay in full.²

If an item is out of stock and you place an order or take a rain check during the weekend, it still qualifies when it ships later. The opposite is not true: an item delivered during the weekend but ordered before or after doesn’t get the exemption.²

Returns and Exchanges

Three rules cover what happens after the holiday ends:²

Even exchange for a similar qualifying item: no additional tax. Swap a medium shirt for a large in the same style and the replacement stays tax-free.
Return and buy something different that doesn’t qualify: you owe tax on the new item.
Return a pre-holiday item and buy a qualifying item during the holiday: no tax on the new purchase.

For 60 days after the holiday, a store will not refund sales tax on a returned exempt item unless the receipt or store records show tax was actually paid on it.²

Local Taxes Are Also Waived

Every city, county, and special district in Missouri participates. A 2021 law repealed the old provision that let local governments opt out, and that change took effect January 1, 2023.³ The state’s 4.225% rate and whatever local rate normally applies both drop to zero on qualifying items.⁴

If You’re Charged Tax on a Qualifying Item

Mistakes happen, especially at smaller retailers. You can file for a refund directly with the Missouri Department of Revenue using Form 472P, the Purchaser’s Claim for Sales or Use Tax Refund. You’ll need the original receipt and a worksheet showing the refund amount.⁵

You have up to ten years from the date the tax was paid to file, though filing while you still have the receipt is the practical move. If the Department denies the claim, you have 60 days to appeal in writing to the Administrative Hearing Commission.⁵

1
Missouri Department of Revenue. Back to School Sales Tax Holiday
2
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 144.049 – Sales Tax Holiday for Clothing, Personal Computers, and School Supplies
3
Missouri Senate. Senate Bills 153 and 97
4
Missouri Department of Revenue. Sales/Use Tax
5
Missouri Department of Revenue. Business Tax Refund