State of Alabama Sales Tax Holiday Calendar Alabama Sales Tax Holidays in 2013

A sales tax holiday is a special time period in which you are allowed to purchase certain items without having to pay the Alabama sales tax. The Alabama sales tax is 4%, so taking advantage of a Alabama sales tax holiday to buy $500.00 worth of goods would save you a total of $20.00.

Alabama has six sales tax holidays throughout the year on a variety of goods. The sales tax holiday calendar below lists all of the major Alabama sales tax holidays, the item the holiday applies to, and the total purchase amount for which the holiday can be used (per person).

Sale Dates Sale Item Sale Maximum Cost Sale Start Year
August 2nd - August 4thBooksNO LIMIT2006 (last 18 years)
August 2nd - August 4thClothing$100.002006 (last 18 years)
August 2nd - August 4thComputers$750.002006 (last 18 years)
February 22nd - February 24thHurricane Generators$1,000.002012 (last 12 years)
February 22nd - February 24thHurricane Preparedness Supplies$60.002012 (last 12 years)
August 2nd - August 4thSchool Supplies$50.002006 (last 18 years)

Why do states have sales tax holidays?

Over a dozen states have various types of sales tax holidays throughout the year. Most of the time, these holidays are special promotions designed to promote desirable purchases of items such as energy-star rated products, emergency preparedness supplies, etc. Many states also hold sales tax holidays to correspond with the back-to-school shopping season for items like books, clothing, and school supplies.

In some cases, sales tax holidays may be implemented as a counter to customers increasingly moving to (often non-taxable) online retailers like Amazon.com. All sales tax holidays were first enacted within the last two decades, most within the last ten years.