Missouri's sales tax holiday
Tax year 2026
Normally you pay
8.45%
state plus local
The holiday removes
4.23%
the state share; local still applies
Saved on five hundred
$21
Days a year
10
What it means in Missouri
- ⚠️ Missouri only switches off its own part of the tax. Your county keeps charging. On five hundred dollars you would normally pay $42, and the holiday takes off $21 of that — the state's share, which is about 4.23%. The rest still appears on your receipt.
- The ceilings matter more than the categories in Missouri. It lists 6 groups of goods, each capped at a maximum price. An item above that maximum is normally taxed in full. So the holiday reaches the ordinary version of a thing and not the expensive one, which is usually the point of a cap.
- There is more than one tax holiday in Missouri, starting with Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday on April 18th. They cover different things at different times of year — one might be about school clothes and another about appliances — so it is worth checking which window you are actually in before assuming something is exempt.
- Missouri's holiday suspends the state levy of about 4.23% only; local sales taxes continue to apply throughout the window. Against a combined rate of about 8.45%, a five-hundred-dollar purchase ordinarily carrying $42 therefore saves $21 and remains liable for the balance. ⚠️ This is the minority arrangement — most holidays in this dataset suspend both layers — so a comparison against another state's headline saving is not like for like.
- Missouri bounds each exempt category with a per-item ceiling. ⚠️ Because the cap almost always applies as a cliff, an item above it is taxable on its full price. The design effect is deliberate: caps target the exemption at standard goods and exclude premium substitutes, which is also why the revenue cost of these holidays is far lower than the headline category list suggests.
- Several separate holidays operate in Missouri, each defined by its own statute with distinct dates and category lists. Because qualification is window-specific, an item exempt in one period is taxable in another; the correct question is not whether Missouri holds a holiday but which one is currently running.
Tax-free days in Missouri
A $75,000 salary
| Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday | 2026-04-18 to 2026-04-24 |
|---|---|
| Back to School Sales Tax Holiday | 2026-08-01 to 2026-08-03 |
Dates come from statute, so they move with the legislature rather than with a data refresh.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $8.45 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $108.45 |
| Rate here | 8.45% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday
Runs April 18th to April 24th.
Set by rule: Third full week of April, annually
⚠️ Local sales tax still applies — only the state share comes off.
Check this holiday at Missouri's own source
| What qualifies | Up to | Saved at that price |
|---|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR products | $1,500 | $63 |
Back to School Sales Tax Holiday
Runs August 1st to August 3rd.
Set by rule: First weekend of August, annually
⚠️ Local sales tax still applies — only the state share comes off.
Check this holiday at Missouri's own source
| What qualifies | Up to | Saved at that price |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | $100 | $4.23 |
| School supplies | $50 | $2.12 |
| Computer software | $350 | $15 |
| Personal computers and accessories | $1,500 | $63 |
| Graphing calculators | $150 | $6.35 |
What it saves on a real purchase
Reference amounts, not a claim about what anyone spends. What comes off depends on whether the locality suspends its own tax as well, which is recorded per holiday and applied here — not assumed.
| You spend | Tax normally | The holiday removes |
|---|---|---|
| $100 | $8.45 | $4.23 |
| $250 | $21 | $11 |
| $500 | $42 | $21 |
| $1,000 | $85 | $42 |
What this page cannot tell you
- ⚠️ These dates are worked out from Missouri's law, not copied from an announcement. Confirm them with the state before making a special trip.
- Which layers of tax come off is recorded per holiday here, not guessed. Individual towns can still differ from the state's general rule.
- And the category names here are summaries. Missouri publishes a much longer list of exactly what counts, with exclusions that surprise people.
- ⚠️ The dates shown are DERIVED from the statutory recurrence rule reproduced beside them, not from a published calendar. Where a legislature moves or suspends a holiday by special act, that change reaches this page only when the rule itself is re-read — so the state revenue department's own announcement is authoritative over this page for Missouri.
- Whether the local levy is suspended alongside the state's is recorded per holiday in the underlying delivery and applied to every figure on this page; it is not assumed. ⚠️ Residual variation remains possible at the municipal level in Missouri, since a small number of jurisdictions elect independently of the general state position, so a specific town's treatment is authoritative over this page.
- Category descriptions are condensed. Each state's implementing guidance enumerates qualifying and excluded items in far greater detail — commonly excluding rentals, items for business use, and specific product classes within an otherwise exempt category — so Missouri's own guidance governs any individual purchase.
Questions people ask
Does the whole tax come off during the holiday?
The state's about 4.23% lifts; the local portion may not. With a combined rate of about 8.45% here, that remainder is worth knowing about before assuming a purchase is tax-free.
What actually qualifies?
6 categories, which is wide by national standards. Each is defined separately and typically capped per item, so coverage is broad rather than unlimited.
How long do I have?
10 days altogether, which is well beyond the typical weekend. The dates are legislated, not chosen by shops.
Is there more than one of these each year?
2 of them, with different dates and different qualifying lists. Being covered by one says nothing about the others.
Is local participation in the holiday mandatory here?
The state component of about 4.23% is suspended; the representative combined rate is about 8.45%. Local participation is mandatory in some states and optional in others, so residual local liability during a holiday is jurisdiction-specific and cannot be inferred from the state rule.
How is the exempt class defined during the holiday?
6 categories are enumerated. Exemption is defined by statutory category rather than by general rule, and per-item price ceilings commonly apply within each, so items above the ceiling remain fully taxable even inside a covered category.
What is the duration of the exemption window?
Total exemption duration is 10 days, exceeding the typical two- or three-day window. Dates are fixed in statute and may be amended by legislature between years, so they are not stable across tax years.
How many separate holidays does this state run?
This state operates 2 distinct exemption periods, each with independently defined qualifying categories, price ceilings and dates. Eligibility under one confers nothing under another.