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By J.R. TIDWELL / Editor

The annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday in Alabama began at midnight on July 19 and will run through midnight on July 21.

During this weekend there will be no state sales tax collected on several items needed for school, including clothing, school supplies, computers and books.

It is up to each local municipality whether or not to participate in the event.

Clanton and Thorsby have both passed resolutions to participate in the 2019 sales tax holiday, while Maplesville and the unincorporated areas of the county will not take part.

There are restrictions on each category of the items that have no sales tax during this weekend.

Articles of clothing must be $100 or less each. These include some clothing accessories like belts, shoes, coats, socks and others.

School supplies that are $50 or less per item qualify. These include binders, erasers, crayons, loose leaf paper, glue, pencils and pens, etc.

Books that cost $30 or less ($50 or less for textbooks) are included, as well as tablets, laptops, computers and printers with a selling price of $750 or less.

A full list of items that are included or not included can be found at revenue.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2017/05/STHolidayQuickRefSheet19.pdf.

“In conjunction with the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday, the Alabama Retail Association is encouraging Alabamians to #StacheSomeSupplies,” according to the organization’s website. “Because the tax holiday is only one weekend a year, families should consider purchasing items required for later in the year and stashing them until needed. Art supplies, computer paper and diapers are examples of items that will be exempt from taxes during the tax holiday but are used year-round.”