New York doesn’t hold a tax-free week, and it hasn’t needed one for years. Instead of a short annual shopping holiday, the state permanently exempts clothing and footwear priced under $110 per item from its 4% sales tax, every day of the year. That exemption has been in place since 2006 and was permanently restored in April 2012 after a brief suspension.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption Whether you actually pay zero at the register depends on where in the state you shop, because local sales tax is a separate question.
How the $110 Rule Works
The exemption is written into Tax Law Section 1115 and applies per item, not per receipt.2New York State Senate. New York Tax Law 1115 – Exemptions From Sales and Use Taxes Any single article of clothing or pair of footwear sold for less than $110 is exempt from the 4% state sales tax. Five shirts at $100 each ring up with no state sales tax on the full $500, because each shirt is judged on its own.
Cross the line by a penny and the whole item becomes taxable. A $115 coat isn’t taxed on just the $5 above the cap. The full $115 is subject to sales tax. That’s why a $109.99 price tag and a $110 price tag sit on opposite sides of a real dividing line.
Alterations and Coupons
Tailoring a garment won’t push it over the threshold if the store lists the alteration charge separately. Reasonable, separately stated alteration fees are excluded from both sales tax and the $110 calculation. So a $105 pair of pants plus a $15 hem stays exempt, as long as the receipt breaks them out. Bundle them into a single $120 line and the whole amount counts. Monogramming, silk screening, and similar customization aren’t treated as alterations. Those charges are taxable and do factor into the threshold.3New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. TSB-M-02(4)S – Taxability of Alterations to Clothing
Discounts matter for the threshold too. A store’s own markdown or store coupon usually reduces the price that counts, so a $120 jacket marked to $99 by the retailer generally falls under $110. Manufacturer coupons work differently, because the manufacturer reimburses the retailer, and the pre-coupon price is often treated as the sale price. Don’t assume a manufacturer coupon that drags an item below $110 will be treated as an exempt sale at the register.
What Counts as Exempt Clothing
The Department of Taxation and Finance defines exempt clothing as items worn on the human body that qualify as everyday clothing.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing That includes:
- Shirts, pants, dresses, coats, underwear, and socks
- Bridal gowns, tuxedos, and graduation caps and gowns when purchased rather than rented
- Occupational, military, scouting, and sport uniforms
- Winter coats, rain jackets, and fur clothing
- Aerobic wear, yoga pants, and workout apparel
- Wet and dry suits
- Fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, zippers, and snaps that become part of a finished garment
Fur clothing surprises people. New York includes fur coats and other fur garments in the exemption, as long as each item is under $110.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing
What Stays Taxable
Accessories, protective equipment, and novelty items don’t qualify.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption Taxable items include:
- Jewelry, watches, handbags, wallets, key cases, and umbrellas
- Barrettes, bobby pins, hair bows, and headbands, though sweatbands are exempt
- Helmets, shin guards, shoulder pads, baseball mitts, and goggles
- Ice skates, roller skates, and in-line skates
- Halloween costumes, party costumes, and rented formal wear
- Nonprescription sunglasses and safety glasses
- Sewing needles, patterns, scissors, pins, thimbles, measuring tapes, and chalk
The costume distinction trips up parents in October. A child’s everyday dress from the same store is exempt; a princess costume is not. Rented tuxedos and formal wear stay taxable even though a purchased version of the same garment qualifies.4Department of Taxation and Finance. Lists of Exempt and Taxable Clothing, Footwear, and Items Used to Make or Repair Exempt Clothing Materials made from pearls, precious stones, or precious metals also lose the exemption even if they’ll be sewn into clothing.1Department of Taxation and Finance. Clothing and Footwear Exemption Crafters should know the split: yarn is tax-free, knitting needles are not.
Where You’ll Still Pay Local Tax
New York sales tax has two layers. The state charges 4%, and each county or city sets its own local rate on top.5New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Find Sales Tax Rates The 4% state portion is always waived on qualifying clothing. Whether the local portion is waived depends on the locality, and most have not opted in.
Places that fully exempt qualifying clothing and footwear from all state and local tax include New York City, Chautauqua County, Columbia County, Delaware County, Dutchess County, Greene County, Hamilton County, Monroe County, Putnam County, and Tioga County, among others. In these areas a $90 pair of boots rings up with no sales tax at all.6New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 718-C – Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear
Most of the state’s counties don’t provide the local exemption. You still get the 4% state break, but you’ll pay the local rate. Those rates run from 3% in Saratoga and Washington counties up to 4⅞% in Yonkers, with most non-exempt counties at 4%. Nassau County is 4⅝% and Suffolk County is 4¾%.6New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 718-C – Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear Localities can change their status, and the current list lives in Publication 718-C.7New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Sales Tax Rate Publications
Online Purchases
The exemption applies the same way online as it does in a physical store. A qualifying item bought from an internet retailer that collects New York sales tax should come through checkout without the state’s 4% added, and most large online retailers already handle this in their tax calculations.
If you buy taxable clothing from an out-of-state seller that doesn’t collect New York tax, you technically owe use tax. But if the item would have been exempt had you bought it in New York, no state use tax is owed either. Local use tax would still apply if your county hasn’t opted into the exemption.