Mississippi extends back-to-school sales tax holiday

Each year, Mississippi provides an annual back-to-school sales tax holiday at the end of July. The tax-free weekend historically starts at 12:01 a.m. local time on the last Friday of July and ends at midnight the following Saturday. 

Starting in 2024, Mississippi’s tax-free weekend will move forward a couple of weeks and run for an extra day. This change is to account for the fact that some students are returning to class as early as mid-July, according to State Senator Walter Michel.

Senate Bill 2470, signed into law on April 22, 2024, moves the Mississippi back-to-school sales tax holiday from the last Friday in July to the second Friday in July. It also extends the tax-free weekend by 24 hours. As a result, instead of running from July 26 to July 27, the 2024 Mississippi back-to-school tax-free weekend will run from July 12 to July 14.

The bill didn’t alter any aspects of Mississippi’s annual Second Amendment sales tax holiday, and there are no other changes to the back-to-school tax-free weekend. The following items still qualify for the temporary sales tax exemption:

• Clothing and footwear priced less than $100 
• Specific school supplies priced less than $100

And, as previously, municipalities aren’t required to provide the sales tax exemption for local sales tax. Those not wishing to participate must opt out by resolution. Thus, depending on the location of a transaction, local sales tax may apply to eligible sales within the corporate limits of a municipality during the back-to-school sales tax holiday.

More than 20 states are offering one or more sales tax holidays in 2024. You’ll find the complete list in our 2024 sales tax holidays blog.