Geoff Luxenberg

Dear Neighbor, 

I hope you and your family are having a relaxing and safe summer. As we head into August and it is time to start thinking about back-to-school, I wanted to share information on the annual Connecticut Sales Tax Free Week and the new sales tax elimination on school supplies. 

The 2026 Connecticut Sales Tax Free Week will take place from Sunday, August 16th, through Saturday, August 22nd. This week provides a chance for families to save money, whether it is taking children back-to-school shopping or treating yourself or your loved ones.

During this week, sales or purchases of certain clothing or footwear items costing less than $300 per item are exempt from sales tax. This exemption applies to purchases made from retailers located in Connecticut as well as from online retailers. There are, however, certain items that are excluded from the scope of the Sales Tax Free Week exemption. The following items are excluded from the scope of the Sales Tax Free Week exemption:

• Any special clothing or footwear primarily designed for athletic activity or protective use that is not normally worn except when used for the athletic activity or protective use for which it was designed; and
• Jewelry, handbags, luggage, umbrellas, wallets, watches, and similar items carried on or about the human body but not worn on the body in the manner characteristic of clothing.
• Click here for a list of items that ARE EXEMPT from sales tax and a list of items STILL TAXABLE.

This legislative session, we passed a state budget to expand eligibility during Sales Tax Free Week, making this the first year Sales Tax Free Week includes items such as clothing, shoes, and backpacks priced under $300, up from $100 in previous years.

Click here for more information on Connecticut's Sales Tax Free Week and frequently asked questions. 

To help make the back-to-school process easy and more affordable for Connecticut families, as part of the budget passed during this year's legislative session, we voted to eliminate sales tax on school supplies items. Effective as of July 1, the state’s 6.35% sales tax no longer applies to non-electronic school supplies, including binders, composition books, crayons, erasers, folders, glue, highlighters, lunch boxes, markers, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, rulers, scissors, and more.
 
This change does not impact supplies purchased by or for businesses, meaning companies that purchase these items must pay in one of two ways - at the time of purchase or as part of a future tax return. 
 
Click here to find more information about these changes. 

Make sure to look out for these emails, and follow me on Facebook for the latest Manchester updates. And remember if you or someone you know requires assistance, please feel free to contact me on my personal cell at (860) 335-2023 or email me at Geoff.Luxenberg@cga.ct.gov.

Sincerely,

Geoff Luxenberg
State Representative