Nothing beats shopping more than tax-free shopping.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. (CST) on Friday August 5, 2016, and ending at midnight on Sunday August 7, 2016, Alabama will hold its 11th annual sales tax holiday giving shoppers the opportunity to purchase certain school supplies, computers, and clothing free of state sales or use tax.  Local sales and use tax may apply.

Retailers are required to participate and may not charge tax on items that are legally tax-free during the sales tax holiday.

Please note the “holiday” only applies to Jefferson County’s regular sales and use tax of one percent. Jefferson County does not grant a holiday for the “education” sales and use tax of one percent.

CLOTHING
$100 or Less, per article of clothing exempt:
Includes all human wearing apparel suitable for general use – Not an all-inclusive list • 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 • Underwear

TAXABLE:
Clothing Accessories:
• Belt Buckles (sold separately) • Briefcases • Cosmetics • Costume masks (sold separately) • Hair Notions (barrettes, hair bows, etc.) • Handbags • Handkerchiefs • Jewelry • Patches & Emblems (sold separately) • Sewing Equipment & Supplies (pins (patterns, scissors, tape measures, etc.) • Sewing Materials (thread, fabric, buttons, zippers, etc.) • Sun glasses, eye glasses, contacts (prescription or nonprescription) • Umbrellas • Wallets • Watches • Wigs & hair pieces

Protective Equipment:
• Breathing Masks • Clean Room Apparel & Equipment • Ear & Hearing Protectors • Face Shields • Hard Hats • Helmets • Paint or Dust Respirators • Protective Gloves • Safety Glasses & Goggles • Safety Belts • Tool Belts • Welders Gloves & Masks

Sport or Recreational Equipment:
• Ballet or Tap Shoes • Band Instruments • Cleated or Spiked Athletic Shoes • Gloves (baseball, bowling, boxing, hockey, golf, etc) • Goggles • Hand & Elbow Guards • Life Preserves & Vests • Mouth Guards • Roller & Ice Skates • Shin Guards • Shoulder Pads • Ski Boots • Waders • Wetsuits & Fins

COMPUTERS, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, & SCHOOL COMPUTER SUPPLIES – A single purchase with a sales price of $750 or Less

EXEMPT: COMPUTERS – For purposes of the exemption, a computer may include a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which 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 SCHOOL COMPUTER SUPPLIES—An item commonly used by a student in a course of study in which a computer is used—All-inclusive list includes: • Computer Storage Media; diskettes, compact disks • Handheld electronic schedulers, except devices that are cellular phones • Personal digital assistants, except devices that are cellular phones • Computer Printers • Printer Supplies for Computers (printer paper, printer ink)

TAXABLE: • Furniture • Any systems, devices, software, peripherals designed or intended primarily for recreational use, or • Video games of a non-educational nature

SCHOOL SUPPLIES, SCHOOL ART SUPPLIES & SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL – Sales Price of $50 or Less, per item (Noncommercial Purchases)

EXEMPT:

SCHOOL SUPPLIES
All-Inclusive List:
Binders • Blackboard Chalk • Book Bags • Calculators • Cellophane Tape • Compasses • Composition Books • Crayons • Erasers • Folders (expandable, pocket, plastic & manila) • Glue, paste, and 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 & Other School Supply Boxes • Pencil Sharpeners • Pencils • Pens • Protractors • Rulers • Scissors • Writing Tablets

SCHOOL ART SUPPLIES
All-Inclusive List:
• Clay & Glazes • Paints (Acrylic, Tempora & Oil) • Paintbrushes for artwork • Sketch and Drawing Pads • Watercolors

SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
All-Inclusive List: (Written material commonly used by a student in a course of study as a reference and to learn the subject being taught)
Reference Maps and Globes • Required Textbooks on an official school book list with a sales price of more than $30 and less than $50

BOOKS—Sales Price of $30 or Less, per book (Noncommercial Purchases)

BOOKS—The term book is defined as a set of printed sheets bound together and published in a volume with an ISBN number.

TAXABLE: • Magazines • Newspapers • Periodicals • Any Other Document Printed or Offered for Sale in a Non-Bound Form

For more information, visit http://revenue.alabama.gov/salestax/salestaxhol.cfm.