Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday FAQs

Section 144.049, RSMo, establishes a Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday during a three-day period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August and ending at midnight on the following Sunday. Purchases of clothing, school supplies, computers, and certain other items defined by the statute are exempt from sales tax for this time period only. Only purchases for personal use qualify.

The statute exempts and specifically defines clothing, personal computers, and school supplies as follows:

1. “Clothing” - any article of wearing apparel intended to be worn on or about the human body including, but not limited to, disposable diapers for infants or adults and footwear. The term shall include, but not be limited to, cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing. Items normally sold in pairs shall not be separated to qualify for the exemption. The term shall not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles. Each article of clothing must have a taxable value of $100 or less.
2. “Personal computers” - a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, a keyboard, and devices designed for use in conjunction with a personal computer, such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughterboard, digitalizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, soundcard, or video card. Personal computers and computer peripheral devices cannot exceed $1,500.
3. “School supplies” - any item normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes, including but not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, back packs, handheld calculators, graphing calculators, chalk, maps, and globes. The term shall not include watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures. The value of each school supply purchase is not to exceed $50. In addition, school supplies shall also include graphing calculators valued at $150 or less and computer software having a taxable value of $350 or less.

Yes. An article of clothing cannot exceed a taxable value of $100. School supplies are not to exceed $50 per purchase and graphing calculators are not to exceed $150. Computer software cannot exceed a taxable value of $350 and personal computers or computer peripheral devices cannot exceed $1,500.

Examples:

During the sales tax holiday a customer purchases a pair of jeans that costs $98 and a sweater that costs $114. The jeans qualify for the holiday exemption. But tax is due on the full cost of the sweater because it has a taxable value that exceeds the $100 limit for each article of clothing.

During the sales tax holiday a customer purchases a backpack for $65, a binder for $3, and a graphing calculator for $120.  The binder and graphing calculator qualify for the holiday exemption however the backpack does not since it exceeds the $50 per purchase limit for a school supplies.

No, starting January 1, 2023, the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday exempts all state and local sales or use taxes during the exemption period.

Note for retailers: Returns filed for periods occurring before January 1, 2023, may still be liable for local sales tax.

Yes, the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday exemption applies to these purchases if you are using your own funds.

If you do not sell any of the qualified items, you will collect and remit sales tax as usual.

The Department no longer mails Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday returns. Returns can be conveniently filed electronically through our MyTax Missouri Portal. If you are not yet registered for this service, you can file as a guest user. To register, you will need your Missouri Tax Identification Number (MOID) and Personal Identification Number (PIN). This service also provides up-to-date account statuses, as well as easily accessible copies of returns filed through this system. Paper filings can still be completed using forms found online on the Department's website, but may result in a delay in processing time.

You can find blank forms online at: dor.mo.gov/forms.

All holiday sales should be recorded as a negative adjustment on the return as an exempt sale.

No. If less than two percent of your merchandise offered qualifies for the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday rate you do not have to participate in the holiday. However, you must provide a refund of the applicable tax to customers on their purchases of qualifying Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday items.

No, the sales tax holiday is for purchases of qualifying items for personal use only.

You do not need to be a Missouri resident to purchase items tax-exempt during the holiday.

Yes, if the purchase of the qualifying item occurs during the sales tax holiday and the transaction is completed during the holiday. Delivery can occur after the holiday if the purchaser pays in full during the sales tax holiday.

The sales tax holiday thresholds include mandatory shipping and handling charges as a part of the total purchase price of holiday related items.

Eligible items that are placed on layaway during the sales tax holiday periods for which final payment does not occur until after the holiday do not qualify for the exemption. However, eligible items that were placed on layaway prior to the holiday when final payment occurs during the holiday period do qualify for the exemption.

Rain checks issued for eligible items during the sales tax holidays qualify for the exemption only if the items are ordered and paid for during the holiday period. Items do not have to be picked up during the holiday period in order to qualify for the exemption.

Yes, items ordered but not delivered until after the holiday qualify for the exemption if the purchase of the qualifying item occurs during the sales tax holiday and the transaction is completed during the holiday. Delivery can occur after the holiday if the purchaser pays in full during the sales tax holiday.

If a customer purchases an eligible item during a sales tax holiday, but later exchanges the item for another eligible item of equal or less value, no tax is due even if the exchange is made after the sales tax holiday.

If a customer purchases an eligible item during a sales tax holiday, but after the sales tax holiday returns the item and receives a credit toward the subsequent purchase of a different item, the purchase of that item does not qualify for the exemption even if it is an eligible item.