Eight states let you buy clothing without paying any sales tax on it year-round. Five of them — Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon — have no statewide sales tax at all. The other three — Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — charge a general sales tax but specifically exempt most clothing. Vermont belongs on the same list for practical purposes, since its clothing exemption is one of the broadest in the country. A handful of additional states exempt clothing below a per-item price cap, and roughly 16 more hold annual tax-free weekends that include clothing.
States With No Statewide Sales Tax
Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon impose no statewide sales tax, so clothing purchases in these states are automatically tax-free at the state level.1Tax Foundation. State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2026
Alaska is the exception you have to watch. The state itself levies nothing, but it gives local governments broad authority to create their own sales taxes.2Office of the State Assessor. Alaska Sales Tax Information More than 100 Alaska boroughs and cities have done so, and whether clothing is taxed depends on the local ordinance. Anchorage has no local sales tax; Juneau and many smaller communities do. Check before you assume.
Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon have no local sales taxes either, so clothing bought anywhere in those four states is genuinely tax-free.
States That Exempt Clothing Year-Round
Four states charge a general sales tax but exempt most clothing with no dollar limit: Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.3Tax Foundation. Map: State Sales Taxes and Clothing Exemptions A $20 t-shirt and a $2,000 coat are both tax-free, provided the item qualifies as exempt clothing under that state’s rules.
What “qualifies” means depends on the state. Minnesota exempts clothing for general use but taxes accessories, sports equipment, and protective gear.4Minnesota Department of Revenue. Clothing Sales New Jersey takes a similar approach, exempting clothing and footwear worn by humans while excluding fur clothing, accessories, and sport or recreational equipment.5Legal Information Institute. N.J. Admin. Code 18:24-6.3 – Exempt Sales of Clothing and Footwear
Pennsylvania’s exemption is the narrowest. Everyday clothing is tax-free, but Pennsylvania specifically taxes formal day and evening wear, fur articles, ornamental wear, and sporting clothing. A tuxedo, prom dress, or pair of cufflinks bought in Pennsylvania is taxable.
Vermont goes the other way with one of the broadest exemptions in the country. Formal wear, wedding apparel, costumes, uniforms, and even steel-toed shoes all qualify as exempt clothing with no price limit.6Vermont Department of Taxes. What is Taxable and Exempt
What Counts as Clothing
The general pattern across exemption states is consistent even if the details differ. Everyday apparel is exempt: shirts, pants, dresses, coats, underwear, socks, and ordinary shoes. Sneakers and tennis shoes also qualify, because they’re suitable for general everyday use.4Minnesota Department of Revenue. Clothing Sales Items designed exclusively for a sport are taxable: cleated shoes, ski boots, ice skates, ballet shoes, wet suits, helmets, goggles, shin guards, and life vests.
Accessories are usually taxable — jewelry, handbags, non-prescription sunglasses, belt buckles sold separately, costume masks. Hats and scarves, though, typically count as clothing and are exempt, which surprises shoppers who lump all head coverings under “accessories.”
States That Exempt Clothing Below a Price Cap
Three more states exempt clothing but only up to a per-item dollar amount. Tax applies to the portion of the price above the threshold, not the full price of the item. Each item is evaluated on its own, so buying three $80 shirts doesn’t push you over any of these caps.
- Massachusetts, $175 per item. Clothing and footwear priced at $175 or less are fully exempt. On pricier items you pay the state’s 6.25% sales tax only on the amount above $175. A $200 jacket generates $1.56 in tax — 6.25% of the $25 overage.7Mass.gov. Sales and Use Tax
- New York, $110 per item. Clothing and footwear under $110 are exempt from the state’s 4% sales tax. Each county and city decides independently whether to adopt the exemption for local sales tax. New York City and several counties, including Monroe, Dutchess, and Columbia, have opted in. In counties that haven’t, you still owe local sales tax on items under $110.8Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption – Tax Bulletin ST-122
- Rhode Island, $250 per item. Clothing priced at $250 or less is exempt. Above that, Rhode Island’s 7% sales tax applies only to the overage.9Legal Information Institute. 280 R.I. Code R. 280-RICR-20-70-6.6 – Taxation of Clothing and Essential Clothing
Annual Sales Tax Holidays
About 16 states hold temporary tax-free periods each year that include clothing. Most run for a single weekend between mid-July and early September, timed for back-to-school shopping. For 2026, states with confirmed or expected clothing holidays include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.10Tax Foundation. Sales Tax Holidays by State, 2025
Most cap the exemption at $100 per item. If a single item costs $100 or more during one of these holidays, the entire purchase price is taxable — unlike the year-round threshold states, where only the overage is taxed. A few states set different limits: Ohio’s general threshold is $500 per item, West Virginia’s is $125, and South Carolina has no cap at all. Alabama adjusts its threshold for inflation and set it at $156 per item for 2026.
Texas runs its back-to-school holiday August 7–9 in 2026, covering clothing and footwear under $100 per item. The exemption applies whether you buy in-store, online, by phone, or through a custom order.11Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Sales Tax Holiday – Tax Free Weekend
Buying Online or Out of State
Since the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require online retailers to collect sales tax even without a physical presence in the state. The typical threshold is $100,000 in annual sales or 200 transactions delivered into the state, which every major online retailer clears. In practice that means your home state’s sales tax appears at checkout for most online clothing purchases.
Buying from a smaller online seller, or in person while traveling through a tax-free state, doesn’t automatically save you the tax. Your home state expects you to self-report and pay “use tax” on those purchases at the same rate as its sales tax. Most states include a use tax line on their income tax returns. The exception: if your home state exempts clothing, you don’t owe use tax on clothing bought elsewhere, because there’s nothing to equalize.
So a shopping trip to Delaware or Oregon won’t cut your tax bill if you live in Minnesota or New Jersey — clothing was already tax-free at home. The real savings show up for residents of states that fully tax clothing: shopping in person during another state’s holiday, or buying from a small out-of-state retailer that doesn’t yet collect your state’s tax.