On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of Alabama, we aim to educate you on the differences that occur throughout the state so you get a better understanding of it in regards to whether you may have:

  • Have taken a new job in the are
  • Applied for a new school
  • Opened a new bank account in the state of Alabama
  • People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Alabama?

In the map of Alabama that is pictured below there are a total of 67 countries that are within the state. You can go directly to the page and see which area has the highest and lowest sales tax in your county of choice.

Autauga Baldwin Barbour Bibb Blount Bullock Butler Calhoun Chambers Cherokee Chilton Choctaw Clarke Clay Cleburne Coffee Colbert Conecuh Coosa Covington Crenshaw Cullman Dale Dallas DeKalb Elmore Escambia Etowah Fayette Franklin Geneva Greene Hale Henry Houston Jackson Jefferson Lamar Lauderdale Lawrence Lee Limestone Lowndes Macon Madison Marengo Marion Marshall Mobile Monroe Montgomery Morgan Perry Pickens Pike Randolph Russell Shelby St Clair Sumter Talladega Tallapoosa Tuscaloosa Walker Washington Wilcox Winston
The state sales tax for businesses and so forth is a standard rate of 4% which allows the local government to be able to collect up to another 7.5% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of Alabama is 8.007%,
  • the highest is within the Macon County that consists of Tuskegee, Tuskegee Institute and this equates to 11.5% sales tax,
  • the lowest sales tax is in the Washington County, which includes cities like Millry, Mc Intosh, Chatom, Leroy, Wagarville, Saint Stephens, Calvert, Fruitdale, Vinegar Bend, Tibbie, Malcolm, Deer Park, Sunflower and Frankville and the sales tax in these areas total to 5%

This is a brief overview, and we suggest that you go directly to the page if you wish to get a clearer image of the different ranges of sale tax in a particular county. Please note that the ones that have an asterisk means they are below the usual county level of sales tax.

How to calculate your own sales tax in the state of Alabama.

So, what does this mean for you, if you are looking into how much sales tax you are going to charged dependant on what sort of county you are residing or working out of. You can go ahead and use a sales tax calculator which will give you a section that is exampled below.

$
-or- Specify Sales Tax Rate
-or- Specify ZIP Code
%

 

You do need to know the purchase ZIP code and purchase amount in order to get an accurate figure. For an example we will use the amount of $100 and see what the ranges could be from the highest area to the lowest.

In Tuskegee, AL with the highest sales tax of 11.5% would mean that your $100 purchase would incur a $11.5 sales tax, taking the total amount to $111.5.

Whereas in Warrior, Al the sales tax is only 7% and a $100 purchase would equate to $7 tax, taking the total to $107.

The sales tax calculator makes it as easy as it can be to find out what sort of sales tax you will be charged by simply adding the amount and the ZIP code. Though there might be some purchases that are exempt from sales taxes or have some special leniency which do need to be taken into consideration.

City Sales Tax Rate Zip-code Population
Montgomery 10.00% 36101, 36102, 36103, 36104, 36105, 36106, 36107, 36108, 36109, 36110, 36111, 36112, 36113, 36114, 36115, 36116, 36117, 36118, 36119, 36120, 36121, 36123, 36124, 36125, 36130, 36131, 36132, 36133, 36134 168964
Mobile 10.00% 36601, 36602, 36603, 36604, 36605, 36606, 36607, 36608, 36609, 36615, 36616, 36617, 36618, 36625, 36628, 36630, 36633, 36640, 36641, 36644, 36652, 36660, 36670, 36675, 36685, 36688, 36689, 36691, 36693 141998
Huntsville 9.00% 35801, 35802, 35803, 35804, 35805, 35806, 35807, 35809, 35810, 35812, 35813, 35814, 35815, 35816, 35824, 35893, 35894, 35895, 35896, 35899 127598
Birmingham 10.00% 35201, 35202, 35203, 35204, 35205, 35206, 35207, 35208, 35211, 35212, 35218, 35221, 35222, 35224, 35232, 35233, 35234, 35235, 35237, 35249, 35254, 35255, 35261, 35282, 35285, 35294, 35295 121754
Tuscaloosa 10.00% 35401, 35402, 35403, 35404, 35405, 35406, 35407, 35486 71862
Dothan 9.00% 36301, 36302, 36303, 36305 63592
Decatur 9.00% 35601, 35602, 35603 52134

Gadsden

10.00% 35901, 35902, 35903, 35904 38638

Prattville

9.50% 36066, 36067, 36068 36823

Bessemer

10.00% 35020, 35021, 35022 35815

Auburn

9.00% 36830, 36831, 36832 35119

Phenix City

9.50% 36867, 36868, 36869 30728

Anniston

10.00% 36201, 36202, 36204, 36205, 36207 29779

Selma

10.00% 36701, 36703 26772

Albertville

9.00% 35950, 35951 26107

Enterprise

9.00% 36330 25806

Trussville

10.00% 35173 22564

Florence

9.50% 35630, 35631, 35632 22210

Daphne

9.50% 36526 22153

Alabaster

9.00% 35007 21780

Athens

6.00% 35613, 35614 20861

Fairhope

8.00% 36532 20664

Hartselle

9.00% 35640 20494

Pelham

9.00% 35124 20038

Foley

10.00% 36535, 36536 19186

Talladega

10.00% 35160 18245

Theodore

8.00% 36582 18191

Pinson

6.00% 35126 18161

Harvest

5.50% 35749 18078

Northport

10.00% 35473, 35476 17604

Cullman

8.50% 35057, 35058 17478

Opelika

9.00% 36801, 36803 17455

Scottsboro

9.00% 35768, 35769 16694

Wetumpka

7.00% 36092 16686

Jasper

6.00% 35503, 35504 16555

Troy

9.50% 36079, 36081, 36082 16345

Alexander City

10.00% 35010 16204

Ozark

9.00% 36360, 36361 15824

Oxford

10.00% 36203 15567

Semmes

7.50% 36575 14723

Bay Minette

8.50% 36507 14435

Tuscumbia

9.00% 35674 14316

Jacksonville

10.00% 36265 13993

Muscle Shoals

9.00% 35661 13733

Arab

9.00% 35016 13412

Helena

9.00% 35080 13265

Gardendale

10.00% 35071 13095

Eufaula

9.50% 36027, 36072 12800

Guntersville

7.50% 35976 12769

Owens Cross Roads

9.00% 35763 12115

Why do I need to collect sales tax in Alabama?

You will need to collect sales tax if you have any sort of nexus there, and what this means is that if you have assets that are physical or economic then you need to do this.

Physical meaning having a tangible activity or some sort of presence in any of the states of Alabama, economic nexus is simply passing the states’ economic threshold for total revenue, or the maximum number of transactions that can occur in the period of time within the state.

Two easy ways to see if you have either a physical or economic nexus in any of the counties is the following:
Physical:

  • Tangible personal property
  • Business assets or property
  • Own, renting properties
  • Made more than $500,000 in a service or content delivery in the state

Economic:

  • Made more than $100,000 in sales annually
  • More than 200 transactions in the last calendar year

How do I get a sales tax permit?

The main way to go about this is to register online at the Alabama Business Gateway. Follow the steps that are presented to you and ensure that you have the following to hand to use as information:

  • Business identification information
  • Business entity
  • Location/s that you will be conducting this from
  • Date you will start collecting Alabama sales tax from a business/property
  • NAICS Code (North American Industry Classification System.)

What is the best way to file sales taxes?

Before you think of doing anything else there are three things that we recommend that you do in order to make this process as easy and smooth as possible.

First of all, find out how much tax you owe (remember the sales tax calculator we mentioned before) so that you know how much you need to pay the state at the end. Second is get onto the Alabama Department Of Taxation ready to submit them, and third have the money ready so you can make the payment straight away.

There are two main options as well to filing and paying your Alabama sales tax, these are:

  • Filing online. This is where merchants are required to file all of their sales taxes through the department of taxation in the state of Alabama, you can also pay your taxes on this platform, so it is one to keep close to you for future reference.
  • Filing by mail. Simply fill out the form UST-1, but this is not the recommended way of filing your taxes due to the possibilities of them getting lost in the post and then it could mean that you are subject to late fees if they are not filed within the allotted time.

We hope this document was able to allow you to feel more confident when it comes to sales tax in the state of Alabama depending on where you operate out of.