--- title: Illinois Sales Tax Holiday Returns for Back-to-School Shopping description: Illinois’ back-to-school sales tax holiday runs August 7–16, 2026. Learn which items qualify and what retailers need to report. image: https://blog.portebrown.com/hubfs/980x411%20-%20Illinois%20Sales%20Tax%20Holiday%20Returns%20for%20Back-to-School%20Shopping.jpg --- [![Porte Brown logo](https://blog.portebrown.com/hubfs/PB%20Logo%20-%20Web%20400dpi%20--%20LARGE-HighRes-01.svg "Porte Brown logo")](https://portebrown-6854056.hs-sites.com/) [![Porte Brown logo](https://blog.portebrown.com/hubfs/PB%20Logo%20-%20Web%20400dpi%20--%20LARGE-HighRes-01.svg "Porte Brown logo")](https://portebrown-6854056.hs-sites.com/) Search # Illinois Sales Tax Holiday Returns for Back-to-School Shopping ![calendar-icon](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2040891/Marketplace/WASABI/icons/icon-calendar.svg) * By [ Ashley Trabaris ](https://blog.portebrown.com/author/ashley-trabaris) - July 16, 2026 * Illinois Sales Tax Holiday Returns for Back-to-School Shopping 2:29 Written By: Ayla Zammit & [Ashley Trabaris](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleytrabaris/) ## August IL Sales Tax Holiday – August 7-16 For the first time since 2022, Illinois shoppers and retailers will benefit from a statewide back to school sales tax holiday. Governor JB Pritzker signed Public Act 104-0468 as part of the FY27 budget package on June 16, 2026, creating a ten day reduced rate period on qualifying clothing, footwear, and school related items. This sales tax holiday is effective **August 7, 2026, through August 16, 2026**. During this ten-day period, the State's portion of sales tax is reduced to 1.25% (a 5.00% reduction from the normal 6.25% rate) on any qualifying item purchased and paid for in full during this holiday. Below is a high-level overview of the qualifying items for consumers and reporting requirements for retailers. ### Qualifying Items - Clothing and footwear with a retail selling price of $125 or less per item. - Most school supplies used by students in the course of study - The $125 threshold does not apply to qualifying school supplies. ### Non-Qualifying Items - Any clothing item with a retail selling price of $125 or more, and other accessories (ex. Handbags and cosmetics) - Sports or recreational equipment - Protective equipment - Specified footwear (ballet, tap, cleated or spiked athletic shoes, roller and ice skates, ski boots, or waders and fins) - School supplies NOT used by students in the course of study ### Reporting for Retailers - Schedule K-12, Sales and Use Tax Holiday Schedule, was created to report sales of qualifying items sold during the sales tax holiday. Retailers should continue reporting all taxable sales on Form ST-1 as they normally would, including qualifying sales tax holiday items. - Schedule K-12 is used to calculate a credit for the 5.00% Illinois State sales tax that was not collected on qualifying holiday sales, reducing the amount of tax due. - When calculating the retailer's discount for filing on time, retailers may use the amount of tax that would have been due before the State's 5% sales tax reduction was applied. More detailed information can be found on the Bulletin issued by [IDOR, FY 2026-30](https://tax.illinois.gov/research/publications/bulletins/fy-2026-30.html). [Please reach out to a member of your Porte Brown advisory team](https://www.portebrown.com/services/state-local-tax) if you think you can benefit from this program or have any questions. [![SALT Meeting](https://blog.portebrown.com/hubfs/SALT%20Meeting.jpg "SALT Meeting")](https://www.portebrown.com/services/state-local-tax) #### SERVICE SPOTLIGHT ### State and Local Tax Services No matter the state or jurisdiction that your business resides, state and local taxes always seem to be in transition. Porte Brown’s tax experts can help your business remain compliant with state tax laws and regulations, develop innovative tax planning strategies regardless of where your company conducts business or the number of states your company may reside, perform nexus reviews, and highlight potential areas of sales and use tax exposure. Our state and local tax (SALT) specialists... [![Learn More](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/6854056/7933ee3a-9a4c-41d6-b3c5-628868848649.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/6854056/7933ee3a-9a4c-41d6-b3c5-628868848649) Comments ### Sign Up for the PB NewsBlog Stay up-to-date with the latest Porte Brown news and service updates, upcoming events and industry happenings, reminders of upcoming filing deadlines, updates on emerging technologies, and more! ## What's New ## Recent News [ **Illinois Sales Tax Holiday Returns for Back-to-School Shopping** 16 July 2026 ](https://blog.portebrown.com/august-il-sales-tax-holiday) [ **Investing in a Limited Partnership? Beware of the PAL Rules** 16 July 2026 ](https://blog.portebrown.com/investing-in-a-limited-partnership-beware-of-the-pal-rules) ## Contact Us Porte Brown LLC 845 Oakton St. Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 Copyright © 2026 Porte Brown LLC. All rights reserved. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ashley Trabaris", "url" : "https://blog.portebrown.com/author/ashley-trabaris" }, "dateModified" : "2026-07-16T07:00:00.921Z", "datePublished" : "2026-07-16T07:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Illinois Sales Tax Holiday Returns for Back-to-School Shopping", "image" : [ "https://blog.portebrown.com/hubfs/980x411%20-%20Illinois%20Sales%20Tax%20Holiday%20Returns%20for%20Back-to-School%20Shopping.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.portebrown.com/august-il-sales-tax-holiday", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.portebrown.com/hubfs/PB%20Logo%20-%20Web%20400dpi-1.png" }, "name" : "Porte Brown LLC" } } ```