Expansion of Ohio sales-tax holiday for 2024 adds restaurant meals to annual exemption

This year's sales-tax holiday is scheduled from midnight on July 30 through 11:59 pm on Aug. 8. 

A provision in the new state budget adds more tax-free days to the calendar for Ohioans and more purchases to their tax-free list. What started as a late-summer weekend tax break for purchases of moderately priced children's clothes and back-to-school supplies now will include a host of eligible items. 

Restaurants charge sales taxes on food that's eaten on their premises, not on food that's ordered at a drive-thru or for carryout or delivery. Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks are taxed. 

That means the sales-tax holiday will apply only to dine-in meals and a can or bottle of soda you might add to your carryout pizza order. Beer, wine and cocktails will be taxed even during the exemption period. 

The Ohio Department of Taxation says the sales-tax waiver will apply individually to food items on a diner's restaurant tab, so even if the bill adds up to more than $500, each individual item will go untaxed as long as it's less than $500.