How to Get a Tax Break on Back-to-School Shopping

Many states have back-to-school sales tax holidays the first weekend in August, but some start in late July. The rules and eligible items vary by state. Most include clothing, shoes and school supplies, and some even include computers. Most states limit the tax break to items selling for less than a certain amount (typically $100 or less for each item of clothing). Some municipalities don't participate in the sales tax holiday. Our list has information about each state's schedule and rules.

July

Georgia: July 31-August 1. Clothing and footwear (costing $100 or less per item); school supplies ($20 or less per item); and computers, computer components and software for home or personal use ($1,000 or less per item). See georgia.gov for a list of tax-exempt items.

Mississippi: July 31-August 1. Clothing and footwear costing less than $100 per item. See ms.gov for a list of eligible items and municipalities that are not participating this year.

August

Alabama: August 7-9. Purchases of clothing (up to $100 per item), computers (single purchase with a sales price of $750 or less), school supplies (costing $50 or less per item) and books ($30 or less per book). See alabama.gov for a list of tax-exempt items and participating cities and counties.

Arkansas: August 1-2. Clothing and footwear (less than $100 per item); clothing accessories (up to $50 per item); and school supplies. See arkansas.gov for a list of tax-exempt items.

Connecticut: August 16-22. Clothing and footwear costing less than $100 per item. See ct.gov for more details.

Florida: August 7-16. School supplies (selling for $15 or less per item); clothing, footwear and certain accessories (selling for $100 or less per item); and the first $750 of the sales price for computers and certain computer-related accessories. See myflorida.com for lists of eligible items and more information.

Iowa: August 7-8. Clothing and footwear selling for less than $100 per item. See iowa.gov for more details.

Louisiana: August 7-8. An exemption from state sales tax on the first $2,500 of the purchase price of most items of tangible personal property. Local taxes may apply. See louisiana.gov for more details.

Maryland: August 9-15. Most clothing and footwear selling for $100 or less. See marylandtaxes.com for more details and a list of tax-exempt items.

Missouri: August 7-9. Clothing and footwear (costing $100 or less per item); school supplies (up to $50 per purchase); computer software ($350 or less); and personal computers and peripheral devices, such as a printer or scanner ($3,500 or less). See mo.gov for a list of cities and counties that elected not to participate in the 2015 sales tax holiday and more information about eligible items.

New Mexico: August 7-9. Clothing and shoes (costing up to $100 per item); computers ($1,000 or less); computer equipment ($500 or less); and school supplies (less than $30 per item). See newmexico.gov for more details.

Ohio: August 7-9. Clothing (costing $75 per item or less), school supplies ($20 per item or less) and instructional material, such as reference books and workbooks ($20 per item or less). See ohio.gov for more details.

Oklahoma: August 7-9. Most clothing and footwear costing less than $100 per item. See ok.gov for more details.

South Carolina: August 7-9. Clothing, school supplies, computers, printers, software, and certain bath and bedding items. See sc.gov for more details.

Tennessee: August 7-9. Clothing and footwear (costing $100 or less per item); school and art supplies ($100 or less per item); and computers ($1,500 or less per item). See tn.gov for more details.

Texas: August 7-9. Most clothing, footwear, backpacks and school supplies costing less than $100 each. See texas.gov for more details.

Virginia: August 7-9. Most clothing and footwear (costing $100 or less per item); and school supplies ($20 or less per item). Virginia also has a sales tax holiday that weekend for certain hurricane and emergency preparedness items. See virginia.gov for more details about both types of sales tax holidays.

Several states also have sales tax holidays at other times of the year for hurricane preparation items, energy efficient home improvements, or hunting supplies. See the Federation of Tax Administrators' list of state sales tax holidays.

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Kimberly Lankford is a Contributing Editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. .