This weekend is the perfect time to purchase school supplies, computers, clothing and other back-to-school necessities because these items will be exempt from state, city and county sales taxes starting early on Friday.

The annual sales tax holiday starts on on Aug. 6, at 12:01 a.m. and runs through midnight on Sunday, Aug. 8. During this time, certain back-to-school purchases are exempt from state sales tax. Most cities and counties are also participating, meaning these same purchases are exempt from city and county sales taxes as well.

The City of Kansas City, Mo., Jackson and Clay counties are among the participants in this tax-free weekend. Here are the cities and counties that opted out.

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. Shoppers do not have to be Missouri residents or students 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.

Shoppers can find 2021 tax rate tables, frequently asked questions and more on the state’s website.