(a) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property, not including, however, materials and supplies bought for use in fulfilling a contract for the painting, repairing or reconditioning of vessels, barges, ships, other watercraft and commercial fishing vessels of over five tons load displacement as registered with the U.S. Coast Guard and licensed by the State of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, purchased at retail on or after October 1, 1965, for storage, use or other consumption in this state at the rate of four percent of the sales price of such property or the amount of tax collected by the seller, whichever is greater; provided, however, when the seller follows the Department of Revenue’s suggested use tax brackets and his records prove that his following said brackets resulted in a net undercollection of tax for the month, he may report the tax due or tax collected, whichever is less, except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 40-23-61

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • month: means a calendar month. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidence of debt, deeds and conveyances. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(b) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use or other consumption in this state of any machines used in mining, quarrying, compounding, processing and manufacturing of tangible personal property, purchased at retail on or after October 1, 1965, at the rate of one and one-half percent of the sales price of any such machine or the amount of tax collected by the seller, whichever is greater; provided, however, when the seller follows the Department of Revenue’s suggested use tax brackets and his records prove that his following said brackets resulted in a net undercollection of tax for the month, he may report the tax due or tax collected, whichever is less; provided, that the term “machine,” as herein used, shall include machinery which is used for mining, quarrying, compounding, processing, or manufacturing tangible personal property, and the parts of such machines, attachments and replacements therefor, which are made or manufactured for use on or in the operation of such machines and which are necessary to the operation of such machines and are customarily so used.
(c) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use or other consumption in this state of any automotive vehicle or truck trailer, semitrailer or house trailer, and mobile home set-up materials and supplies including but not limited to steps, blocks, anchoring, cable pipes and any other materials pertaining thereto, purchased at retail on or after October 1, 1965, for storage, use or other consumption in this state at the rate of two percent of the sales price of such automotive vehicle, truck trailer, semitrailer or house trailer, and mobile home set-up materials and supplies as specified above, or the amount of tax collected by the seller, whichever is greater; provided, however, when the seller follows the Department of Revenue’s suggested use tax brackets and his records prove that his following said brackets resulted in a net undercollection of tax for the month, he may report the tax due or tax collected, whichever is less. Where any used automotive vehicle or truck trailer, semitrailer or house trailer is taken in trade, or in a series of trades, as a credit or part payment on the sale of a new or used vehicle, the tax levied herein shall be paid on the net difference, that is, the price of the new or used vehicle sold less the credit for the used vehicle taken in trade.

Of the total $.02 tax on each dollar of sale provided hereunder, 58 percent of the total tax generated by this subsection shall be deposited to the credit of the Education Trust Fund; and 42 percent of the total tax generated by this subsection shall be deposited to the credit of the State General Fund.

(d) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of food as defined in Section 40-23-60, at the rate of four percent of the sales price of such food. On September 1, 2023, the tax rate shall be reduced to three percent. On September 1, 2024, the tax rate shall be reduced to two percent, if the average of the estimated growth in the total net receipts from all revenue sources to the Education Trust Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, as certified by the Director of Finance and the Legislative Fiscal Officer, respectively, pursuant to Section 260.02 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, is at least three and one-half percent higher than the previous fiscal year. If the growth requirement is not satisfied for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, the rate shall be reduced to two percent in a subsequent fiscal year when the growth requirement is satisfied.
(e) Every person storing, using or otherwise consuming in this state tangible personal property purchased at retail shall be liable for the tax imposed by this article, and the liability shall not be extinguished until the tax has been paid to this state; provided, that a receipt from a retailer maintaining a place of business in this state or a retailer authorized by the department, under such rules and regulations as it may prescribe, to collect the tax imposed hereby and who shall for the purpose of this article be regarded as a retailer maintaining a place of business in this state, given to the purchaser in accordance with the provisions of Section 40-23-67, shall be sufficient to relieve the purchaser from further liability for tax to which such receipt may refer.
(f) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the classes of tangible personal property, and at the rates imposed on such classes, specified in subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section, on the storage, use, or other consumption in the performance of a contract in this state of any such tangible personal property, new or used, the tax to be measured by the sales price or the fair and reasonable market value of such tangible personal property when put into use in this state, whichever is less; provided, that the tax imposed by this subsection shall not apply where the taxes imposed by subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this section apply.