DOTHAN, Ala.— Families across the Wiregrass can save on back-to-school shopping later this month during Alabama’s annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday.
According to the Alabama Department of Revenue, the tax-free weekend begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 17, and continues through midnight Sunday, July 19. During that time, shoppers can purchase qualifying school-related items without paying the state’s 4% sales tax.
According to the Alabama Department of Revenue, several Wiregrass communities are participating in the local sales tax exemption, including Dothan, Abbeville, Ashford, Coffee County, Covington County and Dale County. Shoppers in those participating jurisdictions can save on eligible purchases exempt from both the state sales tax and participating local sales taxes.
Eligible tax-free purchases include:
Clothing priced at $156 or less per item
Computers, computer software and qualifying computer supplies costing $1,173 or less per purchase.
School supplies, school art supplies and instructional materials priced at $78 or less per item.
Textbooks priced at $47 or less per book
Certain required textbooks priced between $47 and $78, which also qualify as instructional materials.
Qualifying school supplies include backpacks, binders, calculators, crayons, folders, glue, highlighters, lunch boxes, notebooks, paper, pencil boxes, pencils, pens, rulers, scissors and writing tablets.
According to the Alabama Department of Revenue, items such as handbags, jewelry, sporting equipment, protective gear, furniture and video game systems are not eligible for the tax exemption.
A complete list of participating cities and counties, along with eligible and noneligible items, is available on the Alabama Department of Revenue’s website.
