Mississippi's 2026 tax holidays: July clothing, August firearms and hunting supplies, and a buy-one-get-one rule written down
Mississippi's Department of Revenue published two sales tax holiday guides for 2026, for different shoppers, and the clothing guide spells out how a buy-one-get-one offer is treated. The July holiday, which the Department's 2026 guide places on Friday, July 10 through Sunday, July 12, exempts clothing, footwear and school supplies when the price of a single item is less than 100 dollars, on a base of 7 percent tax. The August holiday, listed for Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30 in 2026, covers firearms, ammunition, firearm safes and certain hunting supplies. Both guides were published for 2026 only, so we could not confirm any 2027 date, and this page says so wherever a date appears. For a Shopify store the useful parts are specific: the clothing guide tests the price actually paid for each item, so a free item and a paid item are each judged on their own, and its own example of a half-off pair shows what happens to an item priced at 120 dollars. Shipping charges stay out of the threshold, and an online order has to be placed and paid for during the window; for the August holiday the seller must also accept it for immediate shipment, and a delayed shipment requested by the customer costs the exemption. Below you will find the rules as the Department states them, the port at Gulfport and a Gulf hurricane season that shapes ship dates, the full remote seller test, and a buy-one-get-one plan that keeps every paid item under the line. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
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July clothing holiday and August Second Amendment holiday
The July holiday exempts clothing, footwear and school supplies priced under 100 dollars per item, judged on the actual price paid for each item, and the Department's 2026 guide places it on Friday, July 10 through Sunday, July 12. The August holiday exempts firearms, ammunition, firearm safes and certain hunting supplies, and the 2026 guide places it on Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30. Neither guide shows 2027 dates. For online orders the customer has to order and pay during the window, and for August the seller has to accept the order for immediate shipment; shipping charges are not counted against the clothing threshold.
- Clothing and footwear, under 100 dollars per item
- School supplies, under 100 dollars per item
- Backpacks, listed as eligible in the clothing guide
- Firearms, ammunition and firearm safes in August
- Hunting supplies as the August guide defines them
Watch out: An item priced at exactly 100 dollars is not exempt, because the guide says an item must be less than 100 dollars, and the Department's example of a half-off second pair is taxed on the first pair when it is priced at 120 dollars. Accessories such as jewelry, watches and handbags are not eligible, and a set that pairs eligible and taxable items is taxed in full when the taxable part is worth more. We could not read Section 27-65-111 itself, so the 2027 dates and any rule that is not in the guides should be confirmed with the Department. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
Source: Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026)
A buy one, get one plan that keeps each paid item under the 100 dollar line
- Before the July holiday is announced for 2027
List every clothing and footwear product by its regular price and mark the ones under 100 dollars. The guide tests the price actually paid for each item and treats a price of exactly 100 dollars as taxable, so a 99 dollar jacket qualifies and a 100 dollar one does not.
Source: Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026)
- When you design the offer
Build a plain buy-one-get-one on items priced under 100 dollars: the paid item is tested at its price, and the free item is not charged. Because the guide's own example taxes the first 120 dollar pair, keep items priced at 100 dollars or more out of the offer, or run them as 50 percent off each, which the guide says makes each 60 dollar pair eligible.
Source: Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026)
- When you write the banner
Put the condition in the offer line. The FTC's guide says conditions belong at the outset, not in an asterisk footnote, so write buy one, get one free on items under 100 dollars, one free item per paid item, in the same line, and keep the regular price of the paid item unchanged for the 30 days before.
Source: eCFR: 16 CFR 251.1, Guide concerning use of the word Free (paragraphs a, b and c)
- Before the weekend
Turn off pre-orders and made-to-order delays for products in the offer, and do not offer a ship-later choice. For clothing the guide needs the order to be placed and paid during the holiday, and for August it also needs the order accepted for immediate shipment, with eligibility lost when the customer asks for delayed shipment.
- When the Department posts 2027 dates
Read the dates on the Department's news page, schedule the offer from 12:01 a.m. Friday through midnight Sunday as the Department's news item words the 2026 holiday, and end it when the holiday ends. Until then keep both holidays as month-level plans in July and August.
Source: Mississippi Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Holiday news item (June 2, 2026)
- If you sell products covered by the August holiday
Check your platform and payment processor rules before you sell firearms, ammunition, safes or hunting supplies online; this page takes no position. If you do sell eligible hunting supplies, the guide says non-eligible items in a bundled transaction must be itemized separately or the whole purchase is taxable, so keep the offer to eligible items.
Build it with the Buy one, get one (BOGO) template.
Questions merchants ask
- When is the Mississippi sales tax holiday in 2027?
- The Department of Revenue has published 2026 dates only: Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12 for clothing, footwear and school supplies, and Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30 for the Second Amendment holiday. We could not find 2027 dates, so watch the Department's news page and confirm before you schedule anything.
- How does the clothing holiday treat a buy-one-get-one offer?
- The Department's guide says the prices cannot be averaged and the actual price paid for each item decides. Its example is a 120 dollar pair of pants at buy one, get one half off: tax is due on the 120 dollar pair, not on the 60 dollar second pair, and selling each pair at 50 percent off makes both eligible. Confirm your own structure with the Department.
- Do shipping charges count toward the 100 dollar limit?
- No. The Department's guide says shipping and handling charges are not included in the sales price when testing the 100 dollar threshold. That differs from some other states, so do not copy a rule from another state's page.
- Does a delayed shipment break the exemption?
- For the August holiday the guide says a paid order delivered after the weekend still qualifies if the seller accepts it for immediate shipment, and that eligibility is lost if the purchaser requests or causes delayed shipment. The clothing guide requires the customer to order and pay during the holiday.
- Do I have to collect Mississippi tax on sales from another state?
- The Department's FAQ says businesses outside the state with sales into Mississippi that exceed 250,000 dollars over any twelve month period have substantial economic presence and must register to collect and remit tax. The FAQ words the test by sales and does not mention transactions. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Department.
The year at a glance
Related reading
Shipping into the state
Mississippi has 46,923 square miles of land, and its container gateway is the Port of Gulfport, which the Port Authority says handles more than 2 million tons of cargo and over 200,000 TEUs a year, undated, and which announced on May 1, 2026 an 11.25 million dollar federal grant from the 2025 program toward rail, refrigerated container towers and crane work. The coast is also where Hurricane Katrina's surge reached about 24 to 28 feet in 2005, and the Atlantic season runs from June 1 to November 30. For a Shopify store the connection to the holidays is the delivery rule: the August guide lets a paid order qualify even if it is delivered after the weekend, but only if the seller accepts it for immediate shipment, so a storm warning, a backorder or a customer's request to ship later puts the exemption at risk.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010)
Source: Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport: Business overview
Source: Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport: grant announcement (May 1, 2026)
Source: NOAA National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone Report, Hurricane Katrina (updated Jan. 4, 2023)
Facts and sources
The Department of Revenue's Official Guide says the 2026 Sales Tax Holiday takes place from Friday, July 10, 2026, to Sunday, July 12, 2026, and the guide shows no 2027 dates.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's news item of June 2, 2026 says the Sales Tax Holiday starts at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 10, 2026, and goes through midnight Sunday, July 12, 2026, and calls it often referred to as Tax Free Weekend.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Holiday news item (June 2, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Sales tax is not due during the holiday on clothing, footwear or school supplies if the sales price of a single item is less than 100 dollars, the guide says items priced at 100 dollars or more are subject to tax at the regular retail rate of 7 percent, and the holiday applies to each eligible item regardless of how many are sold at the same time.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The guide defines clothing as any article of apparel designed to be worn on the human body, including pants, shirts, dresses, coats, belts, hats, undergarments and multiple piece garments sold as a set, and footwear as any article of apparel for human feet not including skis, swim fins, roller blades and skates; its list marks backpacks, baseball caps and most shoes eligible and jewelry, watches, handbags, sports helmets, baseball cleats and graduation caps and gowns not eligible.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The guide says the total price of items advertised as buy one, get one free or at a reduced price cannot be averaged to qualify both items, that the actual price paid for each item sold decides whether it exceeds 100 dollars, and its example has a 120 dollar pair of pants at buy one, get one half off taxed on the first pair at 120 dollars while the second pair at 60 dollars is not, whereas selling each pair at 50 percent off, 60 dollars apiece, makes both pairs eligible.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The guide says mail, telephone and internet orders for eligible items are not taxed if the purchaser orders and pays for them during the holiday and they are under the 100 dollar threshold, and that shipping and handling charges are not included in the sales price when testing the threshold.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The guide says articles normally sold together, such as a pair of shoes or a uniform, must continue to be sold as a set and cannot be priced separately to qualify, that a set mixing eligible and non-eligible items is taxed on its full price if the taxable part is worth more than the eligible part, and that store discounts and store coupons may lower a price below 100 dollars but coupons reimbursed by a third party may not.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Sales Tax Holiday (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department says the 2026 Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday is Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30, 2026, and that sales tax will not apply on the sale of firearms, ammunition and certain hunting supplies as outlined in its Official Guide; the news item is dated July 10, 2026 and shows no 2027 dates.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday news item (July 10, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The August guide says the holiday applies statewide to consumer purchases of firearms, ammunition, firearm safes and hunting supplies, defines hunting supplies as archery equipment, firearm and archery cases, firearm and archery accessories, hearing protection, holsters, belts and slings when used for hunting, and says general hunting supplies and animals used for hunting are not exempt.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday (2026, updated May 26, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The August guide says an eligible item delivered after the holiday still qualifies if the purchaser pays for it during the holiday and the seller accepts the order for immediate shipment, that eligibility is lost if the purchaser requests or causes delayed shipment, and that a bundled transaction must itemize non-eligible items separately or the entire purchase is taxable.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Official Guide to the Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday (2026, updated May 26, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's rate page lists a rate of 7 percent on the gross proceeds of retail sales of tangible personal property and a rate of 5 percent on groceries, meaning food and drink for human consumption that can be purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits; the page gives no date for the grocery rate.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Sales Tax Rates (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's business FAQ says that effective July 1, 2018, businesses located outside Mississippi with sales into the state that exceed 250,000 dollars over any twelve month period are considered to have substantial economic presence and must register with the Department to collect and remit tax; the FAQ words the test by sales only and says nothing about a count of transactions.
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Business Tax Frequently Asked Questions (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Mississippi State Port Authority's business page says the Port of Gulfport annually handles more than 2 million tons of cargo and over 200,000 TEUs, with no year given for either figure.
Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport: Business overview (accessed October 10, 2026)
On May 1, 2026 the Port of Gulfport said the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration awarded it 11.25 million dollars from the 2025 Port Infrastructure Development Program toward a 24.5 million dollar project that includes rail upgrades at Terminal 5, a rail link between the East and West Piers, 24 refrigerated container towers and a ship-to-shore crane transformer.
Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport: grant announcement (May 1, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The National Hurricane Center's report on Hurricane Katrina says its final landfall on Aug. 29, 2005 was near the mouth of the Pearl River at the Louisiana and Mississippi border, with storm surge of about 24 to 28 feet along the Mississippi coast, a maximum high water mark of 27.8 feet at Pass Christian and 17 to 22 feet from Gulfport to Pascagoula.
NOAA National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone Report, Hurricane Katrina (updated Jan. 4, 2023) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The National Hurricane Center says the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and that its peak is September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October, a window that includes late August, when the 2026 Second Amendment holiday fell.
NOAA National Hurricane Center: Climatology (accessed October 10, 2026)
The FTC's guide on the word free names 'Buy 1-Get 1 Free' among the offers that must be made with extreme care, says the purchaser has a right to believe the merchant will not directly and immediately recover the cost of the free item by marking up the price of the item that must be bought, and says all conditions should appear clearly and conspicuously at the outset, not in an asterisk footnote.
eCFR: 16 CFR 251.1, Guide concerning use of the word Free (paragraphs a, b and c) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Mississippi has 46,923 square miles of land area.
U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.