Many aspects of day-to-day life are going back to pre-pandemic normality, and this includes the bane of children around the country: summer will soon end and it’ll be time to go back to school! The 2021-2022 academic year starts August 4th for Huntsville, Madison city, and Madison County systems, and the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday can provide relief for shoppers with students in the family. Every third weekend in July, the Alabama Department of Revenue helps you save on sales tax on items like clothing, computers, supplies, and more. For 2021, Alabama's Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday is July 16-18.

Alabama has the 8th highest sales tax in the US, so skipping sales tax ahead of the return to reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic is an opportunity. Parents save an average of $50 per kid! Many retailers offer additional sales and deals to lure in shoppers that weekend - so the savings can really add up. To find out which items are exempt from city, county (list of participating localities) and state sales taxes, you can view the reference sheet on Alabama's website, but here are some popular items:

• Clothing ($100 or less per item) – such as school uniforms, jeans, gloves, and shoes

• Computers, software & accessories ($750 or less per item) – such as printers and paper/ink

• Supplies ($50 or less per item) – such as highlighters, protractors, lunch boxes, folders

• Books ($30 or less per item) – any bound book - get your entire summer reading list with one week to spare

Even though this program won’t help kids recoup the hours they won’t get to play Roblox or swim in the pool, this will help their parents save some on sales tax for their school supplies.