Department of Revenue News Release

Missouri’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 6, and runs through midnight on Sunday, Aug. 8. During this time, certain back-to-school purchases such as school supplies, computers, clothing and other qualifying items as defined by statute are exempt from state sales tax.

During the sales tax holiday, state sales tax will not be charged on the following items:

• Clothing that does not have a taxable value of more than $100. Eligible clothing items include any article of apparel intended to be worn on or about the body, including footwear and disposable diapers for infants or adults. Cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing are also included. Not included are watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles;

• School supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase, that are used in a standard classroom for educational purposes. School supplies include, but are not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, chalk, maps, globes, handheld calculators, graphing calculators that do not have a taxable value of more than $150, and computer software that does not have a taxable value of more than $350. Not included are watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures; and

• Personal computers that do not cost more than $1,500 and computer peripheral devices that do not cost more than $1,500. A personal computer can be a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, and a keyboard. Peripheral devices include items such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughterboard, digitizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, soundcard, or video card.

Anyone who makes a qualified purchase may participate in the holiday. You do not have to be a Missouri resident or student to participate and save.

In addition to the state sales tax, local sales tax will also be waived in the cities, counties and special tax districts that choose to participate. Even if a local jurisdiction is not participating in the sales tax holiday, the state’s portion of the tax rate (4.225%) will remain exempt for qualifying purchases.

For a list of cities, counties and districts that are not participating in the sales tax holiday, 2021 tax rate tables, frequently asked questions and more, visit dor.mo.gov/taxation/business/tax-types/sales-use/holidays/back-to-school/.

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