Alabama’s back-to-school sales tax holiday is this weekend, and local municipalities Clanton and Thorsby are also participating.

The holiday gives shoppers the opportunity to purchase education-related items without paying the state’s 4-cent sales tax.

Counties and municipalities can also participate in the sales tax holiday, and Clanton and Thorsby have decided to do just that.

So, shoppers in Clanton and Thorsby this weekend will not have to pay local sales tax, which is 3 cents on the dollars in each municipality, in addition to the state tax break.

Chilton County is not participating in the holiday, so the county’s 1-cent sales tax will still have to be paid, but purchases will still include less than normal sales tax, which is 8 percent (4 percent for state, 3 percent for municipalities in both Clanton and Thorsby, and 1 percent for county).

Jemison and Maplesville are not participating in the holiday, so sales tax for those municipalities will remain the same: 9 percent in Jemison and 8 percent in Maplesville.

The eighth annual state sales tax holiday will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Friday and continue through Sunday, Aug. 4.

“The cost of school supplies can weigh heavily on a family’s budget, especially families with more than one school-aged child,” Gov. Robert Bentley said in a news release. “The tax-free weekend is about saving families money on the school supplies their children need to start the new school year. The tax-free weekend also gives shoppers an incentive to support local businesses, large and small.

“The tax holiday covers a wide range of items from school supplies to clothing and computers. I want to encourage people to take advantage of this opportunity to save money while preparing for the start of another school year.”

Items eligible for tax exemption include clothing priced $100 or less; computers, software and computer supplies priced $750 or less; school supplies, art supplies and school instructional material priced $50 or less; and books priced $30 or less.

Not all items in these categories are eligible. Belts, for example, qualify as tax-exempt clothing, but belt buckles do not. The idea is for eligible items to be limited to those needed for educational purposes.