Selling apparel into New York: the 110 dollar line and your offers
New York does not run a tax holiday for clothing. It does something that matters more to a store that sells apparel: all year, clothing and footwear that sell for less than 110 dollars per item or pair are exempt from the 4 percent state sales tax, and the Tax Department says the test is applied to each item, not to the order. Counties and cities then decide whether to waive their own tax on the same items, and New York City does. For a Shopify store, the practical result is a price line that follows the shopper's address. This page covers where the line sits, what the Tax Department does and does not say about discounts, the remote seller test, and a volume offer that keeps each item's price in view.
Shipping into the state
The Port of New York and New Jersey, one of the country's busiest container gateways, handled 8,897,531 TEUs in 2025, but however a parcel gets here, the tax follows the delivery address. The same 90 dollar jacket carries no sales tax in Manhattan and Albany County's 4 percent local tax in Albany, so the checkout, not your product page, has to resolve it. Whether a shipping line changes the 110 dollar test is something the Tax Department's bulletin does not address.
Source: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Breaking Waves, Feb. 11, 2026 (2025 data)
Questions merchants ask
- Is clothing really tax free in New York?
- Not entirely. Clothing and footwear under 110 dollars per item or pair are exempt from the 4 percent state tax everywhere in the state. Whether the local tax also applies depends on the county or city: eleven jurisdictions, including New York City, exempt it fully, while the rest, such as Albany County, still charge their local tax.
- Is the 110 dollars measured per item or per order?
- Per item or pair. The Tax Department says it does not matter what the total of all exempt items is, and its example treats a 190 dollar purchase of five items as exempt because each costs less than 110 dollars.
- Do coupons and shipping change whether an item is under 110 dollars?
- The Tax Department's bulletin does not say. We found no current statement from the Department on coupons, discounts or delivery charges for this test, so ask the Department before you build an offer that depends on it. This is not tax advice; confirm with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
- Which items are left out?
- Costumes, rented formal wear, athletic equipment and protective devices such as motorcycle helmets are not eligible, and neither is anything that sells for 110 dollars or more per item or pair.
- When does a store outside New York have to collect New York tax?
- The Department presumes a seller with no physical presence is soliciting business in the state when, in the preceding four sales tax quarters, it exceeded 500,000 dollars in gross receipts from property delivered into New York and made more than 100 such sales. Both conditions have to be met, and registration is due within 30 days after you meet them.
A per-item volume offer that keeps each price in view
- Before you build the offer
List every product that sells for between 90 and 130 dollars. These are the items whose treatment could change if a discount moves the price. Items clearly under 110 dollars are exempt from the state tax regardless of what else is in the cart.
- When you design the tiers
Write the volume tiers as a discount on items priced individually, such as buy 2 and save 10 percent, rather than as a single price for a set. The Tax Department's examples test each item or pair, and it does not say how a set price is allocated, so keep each item's price visible.
- Before you advertise a discount near the line
Do not rely on a coupon to bring a 115 dollar item under 110 dollars for tax purposes. The Department's bulletin is silent on coupons, so ask it in writing and keep the answer, or change the list price instead.
- Each March
Local elections change only on March 1, so recheck your sales tax settings against the Department's publication after that date and update your notes if your best-selling counties changed their position.
Build it with the Volume discount template.
Related reading
Facts and sources
Clothing, footwear and items used to make or repair exempt clothing sold for less than 110 dollars per item or pair are exempt from the New York State 4 percent sales tax, from the local tax in localities that provide the exemption, and from the three-eighths percent MCTD tax within the exempt localities.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Publication 718-C, Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear (2/25) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Tax Department says the exemption applies to clothing and footwear that sell for less than 110 dollars per item or pair, regardless of the total dollar value of all exempt items purchased, and its example treats two shirts, two pairs of pants and a dress totaling 190 dollars as exempt because each costs under 110 dollars.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Tax Bulletin ST-122, Clothing and Footwear (updated April 7, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The 2/25 edition lists eleven jurisdictions where eligible clothing under 110 dollars is exempt from all state and local sales and use tax, including the MCTD tax: Chautauqua, Chenango (outside the city of Norwich), Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Hamilton, Monroe, Putnam and Tioga counties, and New York City.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Publication 718-C, Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear (2/25) (accessed October 10, 2026)
In every other county and city on the list, for example Albany County at 4 percent, eligible clothing under 110 dollars is exempt from the state tax but still carries the local tax.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Publication 718-C, Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear (2/25) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District consists of the city of New York and the counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Publication 718-C, Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear (2/25) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Costumes or rented formal wear, athletic equipment and protective devices such as motorcycle helmets are not eligible for the clothing exemption, and neither is clothing or footwear that sold for 110 dollars or more per item or pair.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Publication 718-C, Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear (2/25) (accessed October 10, 2026)
A county or city may change its election on the clothing exemption, but any change can take effect only on March 1 of each year.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Tax Bulletin ST-122, Clothing and Footwear (updated April 7, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Tax Department's bulletin on the exemption, updated April 7, 2026, does not address coupons, discounts, shipping or delivery charges, or sets of items sold together, so a store that wants a firm answer for those cases has to ask the Department.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Tax Bulletin ST-122, Clothing and Footwear (updated April 7, 2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
A seller with no physical presence in New York is presumed to be soliciting business in the state if, in the preceding four sales tax quarters, it exceeded 500,000 dollars in gross receipts from property delivered into New York and made more than 100 such sales; it must register within 30 days after meeting both thresholds.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Sales Tax Nexus and Remote Sellers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 8,897,531 TEUs in 2025, with imports of 4,513,966 TEUs, up 1.7 percent, and finished the year as the second-busiest U.S. gateway for loaded containers.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Breaking Waves, Feb. 11, 2026 (2025 data) (accessed October 10, 2026)
New York has 47,126 square miles of land area.
U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Cities in New York
- New York CityNew York City's 8.875 percent tax, 2.5 million packages a day, locker and off-hour delivery programs and a fashion week code plan for Shopify stores.
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.