Sales tax on clothes by state falls into four patterns: five states have no sales tax at all, four states permanently exempt everyday clothing, three states exempt clothing only below a set price per item, and the rest tax clothing at their normal state and local rates. About 16 states also suspend clothing tax for a short back-to-school window each summer.
States Where Clothing Is Never Taxed
Five states impose no state-level sales tax on any retail purchase: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. You pay the sticker price at checkout. Alaska is the one wrinkle. It has no statewide tax, but local municipalities can charge their own, reaching as high as 7.85% in some areas.1Tax Foundation. State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2026 The other four have no local sales taxes either.
A separate group of four states charges sales tax on most goods but permanently exempts everyday clothing: Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.2Tax Foundation. Map State Sales Taxes and Clothing Exemptions These exemptions are written into each state’s tax law and apply year-round with no price cap. A $30 t-shirt and a $3,000 coat both qualify.
The carve-outs matter, though. Minnesota’s tax code defines exempt clothing as “all human wearing apparel suitable for general use” but specifically taxes accessories like handbags, jewelry, and umbrellas, along with fur clothing, sports equipment, and protective gear.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 297A.67 New Jersey and Pennsylvania follow the same general pattern, and Pennsylvania goes further by also taxing formal and ornamental clothing. Your winter coat is exempt in all four states. The matching handbag is not.
States That Tax Clothing Only Above a Price
Three states exempt clothing only when the individual item falls below a set dollar amount.2Tax Foundation. Map State Sales Taxes and Clothing Exemptions The threshold works differently in each one.
New York
New York exempts clothing and footwear priced below $110 per item from the state’s 4% sales tax.4New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption It’s a hard cutoff. A $109 jacket is tax-free at the state level. A $112 jacket gets taxed on the full $112, not just the $2 over the line. The rule looks at each item individually, so bundling multiple qualifying pieces in one purchase changes nothing.
Local tax is where New York trips up shoppers. Only some counties and New York City have opted into the clothing exemption at the local level. In those places, clothing under $110 escapes both state and local tax. In the rest of the state, including Erie, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester, local sales tax still applies to clothing under $110 even though the state portion doesn’t. Local rates in those counties run between 3% and roughly 4.875%.5New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 718-C Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear
Massachusetts
Massachusetts exempts the first $175 of any clothing item from sales tax.6Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance. 3.103 Exemption for Clothing If a jacket costs $250, you pay tax only on the $75 above the threshold. The incremental approach avoids the cliff New York builds in: a $174 shirt and a $176 shirt come out to almost the same price after tax.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island exempts clothing priced below $250 per item.2Tax Foundation. Map State Sales Taxes and Clothing Exemptions Like New York, it’s all or nothing. A $249 pair of boots is fully tax-free. A $250 pair is fully taxable. The higher ceiling catches fewer everyday purchases but still hits premium footwear and outerwear.
What Counts as Clothing for Tax Purposes
The line between clothing and non-clothing is narrower than most shoppers assume. States with exemptions cover everyday wear broadly but exclude several categories people expect to qualify.
Items generally treated as exempt clothing:
- Everyday garments: shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, suits, coats, underwear, socks
- Footwear: shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, slippers
- Cold-weather accessories: scarves, gloves, earmuffs, hats
- Athletic clothing: gym shorts, jogging suits, swimsuits, athletic uniforms
- Work clothing: uniforms, lab coats, aprons
Items commonly excluded even in exemption states:
- Accessories: handbags, wallets, jewelry, watches, umbrellas, nonprescription sunglasses
- Sports and recreational equipment: helmets, shoulder pads, shin guards, ski boots, life vests, goggles
- Protective equipment: hard hats, safety glasses, breathing masks, face shields
- Fur clothing, specifically excluded in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
- Items sold separately: costume masks, belt buckles, patches, emblems
Under New York’s published guidance, the categories can feel counterintuitive. Batting gloves, gym suits, and cleated athletic shoes qualify as exempt clothing. Baseball fielding gloves, football helmets, and motorcycle helmets are taxable equipment.7New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing If you’re spending enough that the tax matters, checking your state’s chart before you buy is worth the two minutes.
Back-to-School Sales Tax Holidays
About 16 states run a short sales tax holiday each year, usually a weekend or a week in July or August. During the window, clothing that would normally be taxable becomes tax-free as long as each item falls below a state-set cap. Legislatures reauthorize the holidays annually, so both dates and dollar limits can shift.
For 2026, most participating states cap clothing at $100 per item. West Virginia sets its threshold at $125, and Alabama allows purchases up to $156 per item. South Carolina imposes no price cap during its tax-free weekend. Connecticut runs a full week with a $100-per-item threshold on clothing and footwear. States holding 2026 clothing holidays include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Each state’s tax agency publishes exact dates.
The savings are real but modest. On a $90 shirt in a state with a combined 8% sales tax, you save $7.20. The common mistake is assuming everything counts. Accessories, protective equipment, and sports gear stay taxable in most states even during the holiday, using the same definitions that govern permanent exemptions.
Buying Clothes Online
Online clothing purchases follow the tax rules of the state where the package is delivered, not where the retailer sits. Order a sweater from a Texas retailer to a New Jersey address, and no sales tax applies because New Jersey exempts clothing. A Texas resident ordering the same sweater pays Texas sales tax.
This works because the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. allowed states to require out-of-state sellers to collect sales tax once they cross economic activity thresholds in that state.8Supreme Court of the United States. South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. The most common threshold is $100,000 in annual sales into a state, and major online retailers exceed that everywhere they ship. Shipping charges usually follow the item’s taxability: if the clothing is exempt, so is the delivery fee in most cases.
Use Tax If You Shop Out of State
Driving to a no-tax state to buy clothes doesn’t legally end the tax obligation. Your home state expects you to pay use tax on items you bring back, at your home state’s rate, whenever you paid less sales tax than you would have owed at home. Most states include a use tax line on the annual income tax return, and if you paid some sales tax where you bought the item, your home state generally credits that amount.
Few individual shoppers report use tax on a pair of jeans, but the obligation exists, and it becomes material on higher-value purchases. A $2,000 coat bought on vacation in a no-tax state can carry a use tax bill worth reporting, particularly in states that share purchase data with retailers to enforce collection.