ALABAMA: Well, the Alabama SSUT, Simplified Sellers Use Tax, is pitting some of Alabama’s biggest cities against counties. Unified, Alabama does not stand.
The City of Tuscaloosa, one of the BIG 10 cities, of which the City of Dothan is a member of the top 10 Cities, has filed a lawsuit in Montgomery Alabama against the Alabama Department of Revenue over the SSUT, which is a online tax. The Big Cities claim they are loosing millions of dollars, annually, unfairly.
Houston County Commission Chairman Brandon Shoupe has spoken out against the City of Tuscaloosa over this lawsuit. Recently the Town of Rehobeth has joined Houston County as a defendant in the lawsuit. Now the City of Mobile has joined the lawsuit as a Plaintiff siding with the City of Tuscaloosa. The City of Dothan has remained silent on the issue.
The Big 10 cities, such as Tuscaloosa, has stated the state’s formula for distributing online sales tax revenue is unfair. The SSUT was implenmented in 2015 and collects 8% in taxxes for all onlie sales originating in Alabama. The Alabama Association of County Commissions have stated tht Tuscaloosa and other major cities could expect stiff opposition from entities that represent every citizen in the state. And this issue is expected to be a hot topic in the Alabama Legislature in the 2026 Legislative Session, which is an election year.
A complicated issue. That is hard to understand. There is a court hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court in January 2026.
