Alabama Back to School Sales Tax Holiday

Alabama’s annual “School Sales Tax Holiday” is now underway!  Shoppers can catch a reprieve from the state’s 4% sales tax on many clothing, electronic, and school supply options, BUT they should consult the state’s limits on items and purchase amounts to make the most of the holiday.  The holiday goes through midnight Monday, July 18th.  Some of those untaxed purchases include – clothing (priced at $100 per item or less), laptops ($750 or less), books ($30 or less), and stationery items ($50 or less).

Here’s a look at some of what’s eligible for the tax holiday:

Clothing – Apparel of $100 or less per article of clothing

Included

• Belts

• Caps/hats

• Dresses

• Jackets

• Jeans

• Pajamas/robes

• Pants

• Raincoats

• Shoes

• Diapers

• School uniforms

• Shorts

• Underwear

• Socks

Not eligible

• Belt buckles (sold separately)

• Cosmetics

• Hair items such as bows, barrettes

• Purses

• Jewelry

• Sewing equipment such as pins, patterns, tape measures, etc.

• Sunglasses and eyeglasses

• Umbrellas

• Watches

• Helmets

• Ballet or tap shoes

• Band instruments

• Athletic shoes that have spikes or cleats

• Gloves for sports

• Shin guards

• Shoulder pads

Computers, computer software, and school computer supplies; a single purchase with a sales price of $750 or less.

To be eligible, a computer may include a laptop, desktop, or tower computing system sold as a package. Computer parts and devices not sold as a part of a package with a CPU won’t qualify.

Included

• Computer storage media

• Handheld electronic schedulers, except cellular phones

• Computer printers

• Printer supplies for computers such as printer paper, ink

Not eligible

• Furniture

• Systems, devices, or software designed primarily for recreational use

• Video games of a non-educational nature

School supplies

School supplies with a sales price of $50 or less per item.

Included

• Binders, folders

• Book backs

• Calculators

• Crayons

• Highlighters

• Lunch boxes

• Paper

• Notebooks

• Pencil boxes and sharpeners

• Pens, pencils

• Rulers

• Scissors

• School art supplies like clay and glazes, paints, paintbrushes, and drawing pads

• Maps and globes

• Required textbooks on an official schoolbook list with a sales price of more than $30 and less than $50

Books

The sales price of $30 or less, per book

Not eligible

• Magazines

• Newspapers and periodicals

You can view a full list of both exempt and non-exempt products here and a list of the Alabama cities participating here.