Updated: The Mississippi 2025 back-to-school sales tax-free weekend has ended.
It was time once again for Mississippi residents to save some cash: The state’s annual back-to-school tax holiday was July 11 through July 13, 2025. Savvy shoppers could buy clothing, school supplies, and other qualifying items while forgoing the state’s 7% sales tax rate during the holiday.
And this year, there was an added incentive to start shopping — Amazon Prime Day overlapped with Mississippi’s sales tax-free weekend.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Read on for what was included in the Mississippi tax holiday for 2025.
When was the Mississippi tax-free weekend?
Mississippi celebrated its 17th annual back-to-school tax holiday from Friday, July 11th, through Sunday, July 13th.
During this time, many school supplies and articles of clothing were exempt from Mississippi’s 7% sales tax rate. This meant that, for every $100 you spent, you saved roughly $7 in state taxes on eligible items.
What did the Mississippi tax-free weekend include?
The sales tax holiday included many back-to-school items, like clothing and supplies, under a specific dollar amount. Qualifying purchases of $100 (per item) were exempt from Mississippi state taxes during the holiday.
Here is a sample list of eligible items included in the Mississippi back-to-school tax-free weekend:
- Backpacks, book bags, and lunch boxes.
- Writing tablets and calculators.
- Textbooks, notebooks, pencils, and pens.
- Shirts, shorts, jeans, and pants.
- Most shoes, dresses, jackets, and sweaters.
- Work clothes, workout clothes, and gym uniforms.
- Scout uniforms and children’s novelty costumes (for a school play, Halloween dress up, etc.).
What wasn't included in the Mississippi tax-free weekend 2025?
While many eligible items were included in the upcoming state tax holiday in Mississippi, several were excluded.
Here are a few items you could not buy state tax-free during the 2025 Mississippi tax-free weekend:
- Most electronics, including computers, printers, and phones.
- Makeup and hair accessories, like headbands, bows, and clips.
- Belt buckles, jewelry, and watches.
- Briefcases, luggage, wallets, and purses.
- Diapers and baby bibs.
- Sports equipment like helmets, sports pads, shin guards, and cleats.
- Items used for creating clothes, including cloth, lace, knitting yarns, fabrics, thread, buttons, etc.
For a full list of eligible and ineligible items, see the state’s Department of Revenue website.
When did Amazon Prime Day end in Mississippi?
Online purchases may have qualified for Mississippi’s sales tax holiday weekend but generally must have been shipped to a Mississippi address to qualify. Additionally, the purchases must have been made during the tax-free period (July 11th through July 13th).
Online retailers like Amazon honor state sales tax holidays. However, the retailer explains on its website that "tax may still be calculated on items if they do not qualify, which can include items over a certain threshold, bundles, or specific items that are not included in the holiday."
Amazon Prime Day 2025 ended on July 11th. This left one day of overlap for Mississippi customers who shopped the state sales tax holiday to buy Amazon Prime Day deals.
*Note: Shipping and handling charges were not included in the $100 threshold.
2025 Back-to-school sales and deals
Store sales and discounts may have been eligible for the tax-free weekend in Mississippi, but there were strict rules governing which items were eligible.
For instance, the following circumstances would not allow you to purchase items state sales tax free during the Mississippi tax holiday:
- “Buy one, get one” sales — you could not average two items together to qualify for the $100 total. For instance, if you bought one item for $110 and another item for half off, at $55, sales tax was still due on the first item.
- Manufacturers’ coupons that reduced an item’s price below the $100 limit didn't qualify for the sales tax holiday.
- Items put on layaway couldn't be purchased exempt from state taxes during the Mississippi tax holiday weekend.
However, other sales and store discounts may have been eligible for tax-exempt status. For instance, if you purchased an item at 50% off for $60, that purchase would have been exempt from state taxes.
Read More
- Five States With No Sales Tax
- Summer Activities That Can Impact Your Taxes
- Tax-Friendly Summer Ideas for Your Backyard
-
Moves to Manage the Soaring Costs of Owning a CarIt's costing more and more to keep a car on the road, but you can drive some costs down. Here's how to get a better deal on insurance premiums, repairs and gas
-
Here's What You'd Have If You Invested $1,000 Into Coca-Cola Stock 20 Years AgoEven with its reliable dividend growth and generous stock buybacks, Coca-Cola has underperformed the broad market over the long term.
-
Capital Gains Tax Quiz: How Well Do You Really Know IRS Investment Tax Rules?Quiz Take our capital gains tax quiz to test your investment taxes knowledge. Learn about loss rules, holding periods, and tax incentives that could impact your savings.
-
6 Tax Reasons to Convert Your IRA to a Roth (and When You Shouldn't)Retirement Taxes Here’s how converting your traditional retirement account to a Roth IRA can boost your nest egg — but avoid these costly scenarios.
-
Could Tax Savings Make a 50-Year Mortgage Worth It?Buying a Home The 50-year mortgage proposal by Trump aims to address the housing affordability crisis with lower monthly mortgage payments. But what does that mean for your taxes?
-
3 Ways High-Income Earners Can Maximize Their Charitable Donations in 2025Tax Deductions New charitable giving tax rules will soon lower your deduction for donations to charity — here’s what you should do now.
-
An HSA Sounds Great for Taxes: Here’s Why It Might Not Be Right for YouHealth Savings Even with the promise of ‘triple tax benefits,’ a health savings account might not be the best health plan option for everyone.
-
New RMD Rules: Can You Pass This Retirement Distributions Tax Quiz?Quiz Take our RMD quiz to test your retirement tax knowledge. Learn about RMD rules, IRS deadlines, and tax penalties that could shrink your savings.
-
10 Retirement Tax Plan Moves to Make Before December 31Retirement Taxes Proactively reviewing your health coverage, RMDs and IRAs can lower retirement taxes in 2025 and 2026. Here’s how.
-
When to Hire a Tax Pro: The Age Most Americans Switch to a CPATax Tips Taxpayers may outsource their financial stress by a specific age. Find out when you should hire a tax preparer.
