Tax Insight

Alabama temporarily suspends state sales tax on food beginning May 1, 2026

Insight
5 minute read
June 15, 2026

What happened?

Alabama Act 2026-604 suspends the state portion of the sales and use taxes on food for a two-month period, beginning May 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026. City and county sales and use taxes on food are not affected. The Alabama Department of Revenue issued Notice: Temporary Suspension of State Sales and Use Tax on Food on April 17, 2026.

Why is it relevant?

The temporary suspension of the state sales and use tax on food requires retailers to immediately implement changes to comply with the modifications and reduce any impact to their customer base. Gross sales of qualifying food items are required to be detailed when reporting on the tax returns.

Actions to consider

Retailers should review their existing tax processes to identify an efficient way to comply with the changes, given the short time to implement the complex modifications.