QCD matching conditions at thresholds

The use of MS-like renormalization schemes in QCD requires an implementation of nontrivial matching conditions across thresholds, a fact often overlooked in the literature. We shortly review the use of these matching conditions in QCD and check explicitly that the prediction for $\alpha_s(M_Z)$, obtained by running the strong coupling constant from the $M_\tau$ scale, does not substantially depend on the exact value of the matching point chosen in crossing the $b$-quark threshold when the appropriate matching conditions are taken into account.