Mississippi's Second Amendment Weekend Is August 28-30. Here's What's Actually Tax-Free.
Mississippi's annual Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday runs Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30, 2026. For three days, qualifying firearms, ammunition, and hunting supplies are exempt from state sales tax, with no price cap on eligible items.
This isn't a new program. Mississippi has run this holiday since 2014, timed to line up with the start of hunting season. But retailers who sell into the state still need to configure their systems correctly each year, and the no-price-cap structure makes this holiday different from the back-to-school exemptions most businesses are used to.
What's Tax-Free August 28-30
The exemption covers firearms, ammunition, and a defined list of hunting supplies:
- Firearms and firearm safes
- Ammunition and reloading supplies
- Archery equipment
- Firearm and archery cases and accessories
- Holsters, belts, and slings
- Hearing protection
None of these categories have a price ceiling. A $2,000 rifle qualifies the same as a $200 one.
What's NOT Included
The holiday is narrower than "everything hunting-related." A few things worth flagging for retailers:
- General hunting supplies don't qualify, only the specific categories listed above (this trips people up: hunting apparel, coolers, and general outdoor gear are taxable)
- Animals used for hunting are excluded
- Layaway purchases don't qualify. This is a real difference from clothing sales tax holidays, where layaway often does count. If a customer puts a rifle on layaway during the weekend, that sale doesn't get the exemption.
Online and Mail Orders
Internet, mail, and telephone orders qualify under the same rule most holidays use: the customer has to order and pay during the holiday window, and the seller has to accept the order for immediate shipment. An order placed August 30 but not processed until September 2 falls outside the exemption.
Returns and Exchanges
If a customer buys an eligible item during the holiday and later returns it for credit toward a different item, the new purchase is fully taxable, even if the return happens within days of the original sale.
What Retailers Need to Do Before August 28
- Confirm your system removes any price cap on the qualifying categories. Unlike most holidays this year, there's no threshold to program, firearms and ammunition are exempt regardless of price.
- Separate "hunting supplies" from "hunting accessories" in your product taxonomy. The exemption only covers the specific list above, not the broader hunting category.
- Turn off the layaway exemption for this holiday specifically, if your system defaults to allowing it for other tax-free weekends.
- Verify your ecommerce platform is applying the exemption based on order and payment date, not ship date, for any Mississippi customers ordering online.
Selling firearms, ammunition, or hunting supplies into Mississippi and want to make sure your systems are configured correctly for the August 28-30 holiday? Book a free consultation with our team at sales.tax. We'll walk through your setup and make sure you're applying the exemption to the right categories before the weekend starts.
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What this means for your business
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