NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee General Assembly this year approved a three-month grocery tax holiday on food and food ingredients, in addition to the traditional sales-tax holiday on clothing, school supplies, and computers.
According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, the grocery-tax holiday runs from 12:01 a.m. on August 1 to 11:59 p.m. on October 31. According to the state, food and food ingredients are defined as:
"Liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried, or dehydrated substances that are sold to be ingested or chewed by humans and are consumed for their taste or nutritional value."
The TDR says sales tax exemptions will not apply to prepared food, dietary supplements, candy, alcoholic beverages, or tobacco products.
The state's traditional sales-tax holiday on clothing, school supplies, and computers runs from 12:01 a.m. on July 28 through 11:59 p.m. on July 30.
According to the TDR, clothing, school supplies, and computers may be purchased tax-free during this holiday, with some restrictions. The exemption applies to items sold online as well.
- Exempt clothing includes general apparel that costs less than $100 per item, such as: shirts, pants, socks, shoes, and dresses. It does not include clothing priced over $100, jewelry, purses, or sports and recreational equipment.
- Exempt school supplies includes school and art supplies which cost less than $100 per item, such as: binders, backpacks, crayons, paper, pens, pencils, rulers, glazes, clay, paint, drawing pads, and paint brushes. It does not include individual items priced over $100 and items that are normally sold together can't be split-up to stay beneath the $100 limit.
- Exempt computers include computers for personal use, laptops, and tablets with a price of $1,500 or less. It does not include storage media, such as flash drives and CDs, individually purchased software, printer supplies, or household appliances.
Questions? Click here for the sales tax holiday FAQ page.
