Stores, parents gearing up for sales-tax holiday

The state will waive its 4% sales tax on qualified items so consumers can benefit before school starts. Many cities and counties — including Madison, Huntsville, Athens, Limestone County and Madison County — will also waive their local tax, meaning a savings of up to 10% at stores in those participating locations.

The three-day, 19th annual sales tax-free holiday starts at 12:01 a.m. Friday and continues through midnight Sunday, according to the Alabama Department of Revenue. Some stores will have early or late hours to accommodate shoppers. Some of the tax-exempt items during the tax holiday include:

• Clothing, including diapers, priced at $100 or less per article.

• School supplies valued at $50 or less per item.

• Books that cost $30 or less per book.

• Tablets, laptops, computers and printers (but not cellphones) with a selling price of $750 or less.

Although the sales tax holiday is designed for back-to-school shoppers, anyone can cash in on the savings during the weekend. Some of the widely needed items include diapers, printer ink, thumb or flash drives, printer paper and art supplies, according to alabamaretail.org.

Some common items like tissues and wipes are not tax free, but you can find the all-inclusive list of items that are tax free at alabamaretail.org/alabamasalestaxholidays. There you will also find a full list of the participating cities and counties plus other items to guide you through the tax holiday.

Alabama has been having this special sales tax holiday every year since 2006, and a total of 18 states hold the event. More than 300 cities and counties in Alabama usually participate in the annual holiday.

Alabama retailers are required to participate in the state’s sales tax holidays, which include the upcoming back-to-school tax holiday and the severe weather preparedness holiday in February. They cannot charge any waived sales taxes on the items that are legally tax-exempt during the two tax holidays.