Sales tax holiday posts: which states, and what to say

A tax free weekend is one of the few times a year when shoppers plan a trip around a date on the calendar. Five states we checked have their 2026 back-to-school dates set: Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina and Missouri. Below are the dates, what each state covers, and how to word your posts so a customer does not walk in expecting a tax break they will not get.

The 2026 dates we confirmed

Where the dates come from: Tennessee's and Texas's revenue departments had their 2026 dates posted by mid-June, and Alabama published its 2026 fact sheet last November. South Carolina and Missouri do not need an announcement, because their laws fix the date: both start at 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August and end at midnight on the Sunday after.

Other states have holidays too. We left out every state whose 2026 dates we could not confirm at the source on the day we wrote this. If yours is not in the table, check your state revenue department before you post a date.

Does your business get to post about it?

Only some businesses sell items that qualify, but more can join the conversation.

• You sell qualifying items: clothing and shoe stores, school supply shops, computer stores, and in Alabama, books too. Your posts can be about prices and what qualifies.
• Only a few of your items qualify, in Missouri: the law says the holiday may not apply to a store when less than 2% of its merchandise qualifies, and that such a store may offer a sales tax refund instead. If that is you, decide which you do before you post.
• You sell bed and bath goods in South Carolina: the law there lists sheets, comforters, towels, shower curtains and pillows, which most shoppers would never guess. That is worth a post of its own.
• You sell something else: a cafe on the main shopping street, a salon, a pizza place. Your services are not tax-free and your post should not suggest they are. You can still invite the crowd: "Shopping downtown this weekend? Our patio is open, and we have water bowls for dogs."

What to say, and what to avoid

Most mistakes in tax holiday posts come from rounding the rules off. Here are the common ones, with the accurate version.

One detail is good news for stores in Missouri: the law says a store discount that lowers the price counts toward the cap. A $120 jacket marked down to $95 qualifies. A manufacturer's coupon that the seller gets paid back for does not count. That makes a sale and the tax holiday a strong pair in a single post, as long as the sale price is real.

Texas adds a point worth repeating in your captions: shoppers do not need to fill out an exemption form for most qualifying items, and online sellers doing business in Texas take part too.

A simple posting plan for the weekend

Start a week out, not the morning of.

1. Seven days before: announce the dates and the two or three items customers come to you for. One clear photo of the shelf, the price cap in the caption.
2. Three days before: a short video walk-through. Ten seconds of the rack or the back-to-school table, with the dates on screen.
3. The first morning: a story with your opening hours and parking, and a reminder of what qualifies.
4. Saturday: what is selling, and what is still in stock in common sizes.
5. Sunday afternoon: last call, with the closing time. After that, stop mentioning tax-free prices: they end at midnight.

For more on making this kind of short clip, see Reels ideas for small business, and for the story side, Instagram story ideas for small businesses.

Before you hit publish

• The dates match your state's revenue department, not last year's post.
• The price cap in the caption is the right one for your state, with "less than" or "or less" exactly as the state writes it.
• You did not promise tax-free prices on services or on items the state excludes.
• If you are in Alabama, you checked whether your city or county takes part.

This is general information, not tax advice. Your state's department of revenue has the full list of what qualifies, and an accountant can answer questions about your own register.

If you want this done for you

A tax free weekend is a short window, so the posts have to be ready before it starts. You send photos of the racks and shelves, we write the posts with your state's dates and limits, and you approve them before anything goes out: that is what every one of our plans does.

If you want a 20 to 30 second video for the weekend, our one-time Promo Video ($129) is made from your clips and photos, in vertical, square and wide sizes. We need 5 business days from your answers, so order it at least a week before your state's Friday. See plans and one-time jobs.