Sales tax holiday set for this weekend
Alabama will hold its sixth annual sales tax holiday, beginning Friday, Aug. 5, at 12:01 a.m. and ending Sunday, Aug. 7, at midnight.
This holiday gives shoppers the opportunity to purchase certain school supplies, computers and clothing free of state sales tax.
The municipalities of Hartselle, Falkville, Priceville, Somerville, Eva and Decatur have also suspended their sales tax collections for the weekend as well.
Here is a list of some items included in the holiday:
• Clothing valued at $100 or less per article of clothing is exempt. This includes belts, boots, caps, coats, diapers, dresses, gloves, gym suits, hats, hosiery, jackets, jeans, neckties, pajamas, pants, raincoats, robes, sandals, scarves, school uniforms, shirts, shoes, shorts, socks, sneakers and underwear. Items not included are belt buckles (sold separately), equipment, briefcases, cosmetics, band instruments, cleated or spiked athletic shoes, hair notions (barrettes, hair bows, etc), gloves (baseball, bowling, boxing, handbags, helmets, handkerchiefs, goggles, jewelry, protective gloves, hand and elbow guards, patches and emblems (sold separately), safety glasses and goggles, life preserves and vests, sewing equipment and supplies (pins, safety belts, mouth guards, tool belts, roller and ice skates, sewing materials (thread, fabric, buttons,, welders gloves and masks, shin guards, shoulder pads, sun glasses, eye glasses, contacts, ski boots, umbrellas, wallets, watches, wigs and hair pieces
Computers, computer software and school computer supplies with a single purchase price of $750 or less are exempt from taxes. For purposes of the exemption, a computer may include a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system that consists of a central processing unit (CPU), and devices such as a display monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers sold as a computer package. Computer parts and devices not sold as part of a package with the CPU, will not qualify for the exemption. Computer software and accessories include computer storage media, handheld electronic schedulers, except devices that are cellular phones, personal digital assistants, except devices that are cellular phones, computer printers and printer supplies for computers (printer paper, printer ink). Taxable items furniture; any systems, devices, software, peripherals designed or intended primarily for recreational use; or video games of a non-educational nature.
• School supplies with a price of $50 or less per item. This includes binders, blackboard chalk, book bags, calculators, cellophane tape, compasses, composition books, crayons, erasers, folders (expandable, pocket, plastic and manila), glue, paste, paste sticks, highlighters, index cards, index card boxes, legal pads, lunch boxes, markers, notebooks, paper (loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper), pencil boxes and other school supply boxes, pencil sharpeners, pencils, pens, protractors, rulers, scissors, writing tablets.
• School art supplies included in the holiday are clay and glazes, paints (acrylic, tempora and oil), paintbrushes for artwork, sketch and drawing pads and watercolors.
• School instructional materials such as reference maps, globes and required textbooks on an official school book list with a sales price of more than $30 and less than $50.
• Books with a sales price of $30 or less is exempt as well. This excludes magazines, newspapers, periodicals and any other document printed or offered for sale in a non-bound form.
For more information, log on to http://www.ador.state.al.us/salestax/salestaxhol.htm.
