If you want to buy some new clothes for school or some school supplies, you might want to do that this weekend. Ohio’s state and local sales tax holiday will begin Friday, August 7 at midnight and end Sunday, August 9 at 11:59 p.m. But this year, the holiday will be more limited than in the past.
This year’s holiday is limited to one weekend. Last year, it was two weeks long. Ohio Department of Taxation Policy Director Tim Lynch said this year’s holiday is the traditional one established in state law, which is allowed if the state has a revenue surplus of at least $60 million.
“The General Assembly a few years ago authorized an expanded sales tax holiday for 2024 and 2025. In 2024 it was ten days. It was 14 days last year in 2025," Lynch said. "That has sunset, and it goes back to the original sales tax holiday.”
Lynch said this holiday is limited to clothing up to $75 per item. School supplies like pens, paper, and bookbags are exempt as long as they don’t exceed $20. But computers and electronic items are not tax-exempt this year.
“The last two years we had an expanded sales tax holiday that pretty much covered everything except for automobiles, alcohol, tobacco and those types of items but this is just for clothing, school supplies and school instructional materials," Lynch said.
Lynch said the General Assembly has authorized another expanded sales tax holiday to return in 2027.
Exemptions and limitations
The price of an individual item is what makes it qualify for the exemption. So, if a jacket is $75.59, it would not be exempt because it exceeds the $75 limit. And retailers could not split the purchase to give a partial exemption.
The sales tax exemption cannot be used for business purposes. And unlike last year, food purchased in a restaurant is not exempt from sales tax. As usual, vehicles, boats, marijuana, and alcohol are not exempt.
A complete list of rules and exempted items can be found here.
