By: Isabelle Puente

Tennesseans can finally say hello to back-to-school tax-free weekend. The dates for this year’s tax-free weekend are July 31 through August 2.

NOTE: Tennessee’s Food and Ingredient Tax Holiday runs the last weekend of October. For 2026: October 30 – November 1, 2026. During this weekend, food and food ingredients sold in Tennessee are exempt from the state’s 4% food sales tax rate (note: the full state rate is 7%, but food already has a reduced rate; this weekend waives it entirely).

Items that will be exempt from taxes will include clothing items costing $100 or less (apparel worn on the body; excludes accessories, jewelry, handbags, and umbrellas), school supplies costing $100 or less (pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, binders, backpacks, calculators) and computers costing $1,500 or less (personal computers and tablets).

Barry Nalbone, General Manager of Office Max, 157 Stonebrook Place, shared how their store will be participating this weekend.

“All of the back-to-school supplies, laptops, desktops, anything that’s under $1,500 for that,” Nalbone said. “We’ve got calculators, things that students need and all the items that are basically school supplies are gonna be tax-free for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

Unfortunately, Office Max’s price match policy will not be available during tax-free weekend. However, you will still be able to save a pretty penny. According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, Tennesseans will save nearly 10 percent in taxes during this weekend.

Nalbone ensures that his employees will help customers be aware of what their deals are so they do not make customers any promises on deals that they’re not able to fulfill. Nalbone also encouraged folks to head out to the store and complete their normal back-to-school shopping but, with the tax-free deals in mind.

(PHOTO: Barry Nalbone, Office Max)