Texas Sales Tax Holiday at Home Depot: What Qualifies in 2026

How the Texas sales tax holiday works at Home Depot

A Texas sales tax holiday is a short window when certain items can be bought without paying state and local sales tax. Two of them line up well with what Home Depot sells: one for emergency preparation supplies and one for ENERGY STAR and water-efficient products.

Here's the key thing to understand: a tax holiday doesn't change Home Depot's price. It just removes sales tax on qualifying items at checkout. That's why savvy shoppers pair a tax holiday with a clearance price. If a qualifying item is already marked down, you save on both.

Dates and rules change every year. The details below are for 2026. Always check the Texas Comptroller website before you shop.

Emergency preparation supplies holiday

In 2026, this holiday ran from Saturday, April 25 through Monday, April 27. It covers items people buy to get ready for storms and emergencies.

What qualified in 2026, by price:

This holiday lands before hurricane season, which makes it a good time to stock up if you live on the Gulf Coast. Our guide to hurricane season clearance covers what tends to happen to storm gear after the season ends.

ENERGY STAR products holiday

In 2026, this holiday ran from Saturday, May 23 through Monday, May 25, over Memorial Day weekend.

Only certain ENERGY STAR product types qualified, and they had to carry the ENERGY STAR label:

• Air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less
• Refrigerators priced at $2,000 or less
• Ceiling fans
• Certain light bulbs (the Comptroller lists fluorescent bulbs)
• Dishwashers
• Dehumidifiers
• Clothes washers

Other appliances don't qualify, even with the ENERGY STAR label. For example, a dryer doesn't qualify.

Water-efficient products holiday

The water-efficient products holiday ran on the same dates in 2026, May 23 through May 25.

Two groups of items qualified:

• WaterSense-labeled products like showerheads, bathroom sink faucets and fixtures, and landscape irrigation controls. These qualified for personal or business use.
• Lawn and garden items like soaker or drip-irrigation hoses, moisture controls for sprinklers or irrigation systems, mulch, and plants, trees and grasses. These qualified for residential use only.

There was no limit on how many qualifying water-efficient items you could buy tax free.

How to stack the tax holiday with clearance

The biggest savings come from combining a clearance price with no sales tax. Here's how to set that up:

1. Make a list before the weekend. Note qualifying items you actually need, like a ceiling fan, a WaterSense showerhead or a fire extinguisher.
2. Check clearance prices first. Use the Home Depot app to look up the price at your store. Our Home Depot app price check guide explains how.
3. Compare stores. Clearance is set store by store, so the same fan can be cheaper at another store nearby.
4. Confirm the label. For ENERGY STAR items, make sure the product shows the ENERGY STAR logo. For water items, look for the WaterSense label where it applies.
5. Check your receipt. Make sure tax was removed on qualifying items.

Ceiling fans, bulbs and faucets show up on clearance often, so they're good candidates for stacking. Our Home Depot clearance guide explains how markdowns work, and our price endings guide covers what different endings can tell you.

Finding qualifying clearance near you

The hard part is knowing which store has the qualifying item on clearance. The Home Depot app only shows one store at a time.

PennyLoot scans the Home Depot stores near your ZIP and lists their clearance in one place. Before a tax holiday weekend, you can check our Dallas deals page or Houston deals page to see what's marked down at stores in those areas, then confirm in the app before you go.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming every appliance qualifies. Only the listed ENERGY STAR product types count.
• Forgetting the price limits. An air conditioner over $6,000 or a refrigerator over $2,000 didn't qualify in 2026.
• Using last year's dates. The holidays move each year. Check the Comptroller website.
• Buying garden items for business use. The lawn and garden part of the water-efficient holiday was residential only.
• Skipping the price check. A tax holiday saves you the tax, but clearance can save you much more.

More Texas guides

The tax holidays are just one way to save in Texas. Our Texas Home Depot clearance guide covers statewide tips, and our Dallas Home Depot clearance guide covers hunting across DFW. If you're also looking for penny items, start with our Home Depot penny items guide.