CT Sales Tax-Free Week: Dates, $100 Cap, and Exclusions

Connecticut’s sales tax free week runs from Sunday, August 16, through Saturday, August 22, 2026. During those seven days, any individual article of clothing or footwear priced under $100 is exempt from the state’s 6.35% sales tax, and there is no limit on how many qualifying items you can buy.¹

When the Holiday Runs

The holiday always begins on the third Sunday in August and ends the following Saturday.² For 2026, that means August 16 through August 22.

What counts is the date you pay, not the date the item ships or arrives.¹ Pay for a qualifying item on August 22 and it is tax-free even if delivery slides into the next week. Pay before August 16, and you owe tax even if the package lands during the holiday.

The $100 Per-Item Rule

The exemption applies to each article separately, based on its own price.² The cart total does not matter. Three shirts at $90 each ring up with no sales tax. A single jacket at $105 owes the full 6.35% on the entire $105, because the exemption is all-or-nothing — there is no partial break on the first $100.¹

An item at $99.99 qualifies. An item at exactly $100 does not. And you can buy as many qualifying items as you want in a single transaction; a parent stocking up on a dozen school outfits pays zero tax as long as every piece stays under the ceiling.¹

What Qualifies

The test is whether the item is intended to be worn on or about the human body the way clothing is normally worn.² Everyday wardrobe items are in:

Shirts, blouses, pants, jeans, dresses, skirts, sweaters, jackets, and undergarments
Coats, scarves, hats, gloves worn for warmth, and socks
Sneakers, dress shoes, fashion boots, and sandals

If you would wear it on a regular day, it almost certainly qualifies.

What Stays Taxable

Two categories owe sales tax even during the holiday, regardless of price.

Athletic and protective gear designed primarily for a sport or safety function and not normally worn outside that activity remains taxable. That includes cleated shoes, wet suits, football pads, and ski boots. Items that people commonly wear as everyday clothing — running shoes without cleats, ski jackets — do qualify.³

Accessories carried rather than worn are also excluded: jewelry, handbags, wallets, luggage, umbrellas, and watches. Even a $15 bracelet still owes sales tax.¹

Coupons, Sales, and BOGO Deals

The $100 threshold is measured against the final price after all discounts.¹ A $110 jacket that rings up at $95 after a store coupon, promo code, or manufacturer coupon crosses under the ceiling and becomes exempt. What the register charges is what counts.

Buy-one-get-one-free works item by item. If a store offers a BOGO on $120 jeans, the pair you actually pay $120 for is over the ceiling and taxable. The free pair has no sales price, so no tax applies to it.¹ The prices are not averaged across the two.

Online Orders and Shipping

Online and mail-order purchases qualify on the same terms as in-store shopping. The trigger is the date of full payment.¹ Place and pay for an order on August 20 and the qualifying items are exempt, even if the box arrives in September.

Shipping charges follow the item they are attached to. If the clothing itself is exempt, the shipping charge on it is exempt too. Shipping on a taxable item, such as a $150 coat, remains taxable.¹

Returns, Exchanges, and Rain Checks

Exchange a tax-free item after the week ends for the same type of item — a different size of the same shirt, say — and the exchange stays tax-free. Swap it for something different, and the new item is taxed at the normal rate.

Rain checks track the payment date. One issued before the holiday can be redeemed during the week for a tax-free purchase. One issued during the week cannot be held and used later in the year to escape sales tax; once August 22 passes, ordinary tax rules return.¹

1
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. 2025 Connecticut Sales Tax Free Week
2
Justia. Connecticut Code 12-407e – Tax Suspended for One Week in August for Sales of Clothing or Footwear of Less Than One Hundred Dollars
3
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Examples of Clothing and Footwear That Are Exempt During Sales Tax Free Week