It’s almost time for Pike County children to be heading back to school donned in new clothes and carrying backpacks with new pencils, glue, scissors and crayons.

But shopping in Troy, Brundidge, Goshen and Pike County this weekend will allow parents to save on all sorts of items students need for the new school year.

From 12:01 a.m. Friday until midnight on Sunday, municipalities and counties in Alabama that elect to participate will offer a sales tax holiday. That means there are a myriad of items that can be purchased this weekend without sales tax, according to the Alabama Department of Revenue.

General use clothing that is $100 or less per piece is exempt from taxes during the sales tax holiday. Items such a shirts, shorts, jeans, socks, sneakers, dresses, coats and belts are on the exempt list. Items such as watches, wallets, jewelry, handbags, barrettes, cosmetics and belt buckles are still taxable. Sports equipment and protective equipment is also taxable.

School supplies of $50 or less per item are also exempt. That means binders, chalk, calculators, book bags, crayons, erasers, lunch boxes, paper, notebooks, pencils, protractors and other items are tax free. Art supplies such as clay and glazes, paints, paintbrushes and watercolors are covered.

Books that cost less than $30 are tax exempt, but magazines, newspapers, periodicals and other non-bound documents are still taxable.

In addition, computers and computer equipment that costs less than $750 can also be purchased tax-free. PDAs, computer storage media, printers, printer paper and printer ink also qualify.

For a full list of participating cities and for more information, visit revenue.alabama.gov. Scroll down to the “What’s New?” section and click the “Mark Your Calendars” link.

Troy, Brundidge, Goshen and Pike County participate in the sales tax holiday each year.