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By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

Parents of school-age children will have an opportunity to purchase school supplies and other related items free of state sales tax on the third weekend of July.

Shelby County and many of its municipalities will participate in Alabama’s 16th annual Back to School Sales Tax Holiday starting Friday, July 16 at 12:01 a.m. and ending Sunday, July 18 at midnight.

Throughout the weekend, the following items may be purchased without the state’s 4-percent sales and use tax applied: certain school supplies, school art supplies and instructional materials costing $50 or less per item; computers, computer software and school computer supplies costing $750 or less for a single purchase; and clothing costing $100 or less per article.

Local participants for 2021 include Alabaster, Calera, Chelsea, Columbiana, Harpersville, Helena, Hoover, Indian Springs Village, Montevallo, Pelham, Vincent, Westover and Wilsonville.

Alabama’s sales tax holiday was enacted in 2006 and takes place on the third full weekend of July each year.

According to the Alabama Department of Revenue’s website, a county or municipality by resolution or ordinance adopted at least 30 days prior to the third full weekend of July may provide for the exemption of covered items from county or municipal sales or use taxes during the same time period.

For more information about covered items during the sales tax holiday, or to view the Alabama Department of Revenue’s full list of participants, visit Revenue.alabama.gov/sales-use/sales-tax-holidays/.