Tennessee Sales Tax Holidays 2023

The Tennessee General Assembly has announced the approvals of multiple sales tax holidays for the third year in a row. In addition to the traditional sales tax holiday for clothing, school supplies, and computer purchases, the holiday has been expanded again to food and food ingredients. The gun safe and safety sales tax holiday will not be extended for 2023.

The traditional sales tax holiday will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 28, 2023, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 30, 2023. The food sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. For the months of August through October 2023, as compared to one month in 2022, food and food ingredients will be exempt from sales taxes.

Food Sales Tax Holiday

The Tennessee Department of Revenue defines the qualifying items for the food and food ingredients sales tax holiday in Notice #23-09 in summary as most foods sold at the grocery store are included in this holiday. The items excluded are products like alcoholic beverages, tobacco, candy, or dietary supplements. Prepared food, which was included in 2021, are still subject to sales tax.

As in 2022, prepared foods have been removed from this holiday, but this holiday can still be used to the consumer’s advantage. With it being extended from one month to three, this holiday can help consumers increase their savings.

Gun Safety Holiday

The sales tax holiday for gun safes and safety devices began on July 1st, 2022, and ends on Friday, June 30th, 2023. The guidelines laid out in Notice #22-06 clearly state what qualifies as a gun safe and safety equipment. A gun safety device is defined as “any integral device to be equipped or installed on a firearm that permits the user to program the firearm to operate only for specified persons.” For example, a gun lock is considered a gun safety device since it prevents the gun from being loaded until the lock is removed by the person with the key. Gun safes are defined as “locking container” that is intended for “secure storage of one or more firearms.”

Traditional Sales Tax Holiday

The Tennessee Department of Revenue also released guidelines for the traditional sales tax holiday. This holiday includes the sale of clothing, school supplies, and computers. Clothing and school supplies that cost $100 or less per item are tax exempt, as well as computers costing $1,500 or less. Some items not included are as follows:

· Jewelry, handbags, or sports equipment

· Household appliances

· Storage media, like flash drives

· Printer Supplies

The biggest change for 2023 is the extension of the food sales tax holiday from one month to three months, and the gun safety tax holiday will not be extended as it has been in previous years. With the extension of the food sales tax holiday, TN consumers will have the ability to save big on sales tax!

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