Alabama Sales Tax Free Holiday

The Alabama Sales Tax Holiday is August 5-7th this year. For the sixth year in a row, a new law in Alabama provides for a sales tax break for parents trying to get their children ready for back-to-school. Whether you have a preschooler or a college senior, take advantage of the savings this year. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Friday August 5, 2011, and ending at twelve midnight on Sunday August 7, 2011, a sales tax holiday is enacted throughout the state pursuant to Alabama Act No. 2006-574: "...whereby no state sales or use tax is due on covered items."

Covered items include:

• Clothing, including footwear (excluding accessories or sports equipment), which do not exceed one-hundred dollars ($100 per item).
• Computers and computer software (not exceeding $750 per item).
• School supplies and instructional materials (not exceeding $50 per item).

For a detailed list of everything that is exempt and what might not be exempt in certain cases, check the rules on Alabama Department of Revenue website.

Now that we've joined other states in having a Sales Tax Holiday, it will be an annual event. The law also states that from now on, each year the sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August and ends at twelve midnight the following Sunday. Also, county and city taxes can be waived during the same time period (and no other time) "during and under the same terms, conditions, and definitions as the state sales tax holiday."

For the 2011 Sales Tax Holiday, the cities of Huntsville and Madison and the county of Madison, have notified the Alabama Department of Revenue that they will be waiving their sales taxes as well. The complete list shows which cities and which counties in the entire state are waiving their taxes this year and which are planning on continuing to waive them every year hereafter.

In summary, the whole state is participating in the state sales tax holiday, but the local governments have a choice as to whether they will be waiving the local taxes as well. All retailers are required to participate during the sales tax holiday.

For more information, contact the Alabama Dept. of Revenue from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., CST, Monday through Friday, at (334) 242-1490 or (866) 576-6531.