Special to the Enquirer

Alabama’s seventh annual Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday will be held Feb. 23-25. Alabamians are encouraged to stock up on a variety of supplies for protecting their homes or businesses during Alabama’s tornado and hurricane seasons.

A provision in the Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday law allows counties and municipalities to join the state by removing their own local sales and use taxes from the same items during the same weekend.

The Alabama Department of Revenue has compiled a list of all cities and counties participating in the 2018 Severe Weather Preparedness Tax Holiday. Hartselle and other municipalities in Morgan County are participating. The city and county listing is available at revenue.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SWHoliday_2018.pdf.

Examples of items covered under the Severe Weather Preparedness holiday include the following items that have a sales price of $60 or less per item:

• Batteries: AAA batteries, AA batteries, C batteries, D batteries, six-volt batteries and nine-volt batteries. NOT COVERED: coin, automobile and boat batteries.
• Cellular phone batteries.
• Cellular phone chargers.
• Portable self-powered or battery-powered radios, two-way radios, weather-band radios and NOAA weather radios.
• Portable self-powered light sources, including battery-powered flashlights, lanterns and emergency glow sticks.
• Tarpaulin, plastic sheeting, plastic dropcloths and other flexible, waterproof sheeting.
• Ground anchor systems, such as bungee cords and rope, and tie-down kits.
• Duct tape.
• Plywood, window film or other materials specifically designed to protect window coverings.
• Non-electric food storage coolers and water storage containers.
• Non-electric can openers.
• Artificial ice, blue ice, ice packs and reusable ice.
• Self-contained first aid kits.
• Fire extinguishers.
• Smoke detectors.
• Carbon monoxide detectors.
• Gas or diesel fuel tanks or container.

Portable generators and power cords that have a sales price of $1,000 or less are also eligible for the tax-free sale.

For more information about Alabama’s annual Sales Tax Holiday for Severe Weather Preparedness, visit https://revenue.alabama.gov/sales-use/sales-tax-holidays/.