Do I need a sales tax permit in Alabama?

Anyone who engages or continues in a business subject to Alabama's sales tax must apply for and obtain a license from the Alabama Department of Revenue for the current tax year. Alabama calls the registration an Alabama sales tax license. For a seller outside Alabama, the economic nexus threshold is $250,000 in sales in the previous calendar year. Alabama's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Alabama

How to Get an Alabama Sales Tax License

The short answer. In Alabama, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Alabama sales tax is an Alabama sales tax license, issued by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Alabama charges no fee for the sales tax license.

Alabama Sales Tax License at a Glance

What Alabama calls it	Alabama Sales Tax License
Issued by	Alabama Department of Revenue
How to apply	Not confirmed
Fee	Free
Security deposit or bond	Required in stated cases
Expires	Renewed every year
Several locations	One covers all locations (see Locations)
Local sales tax	Some need their own registration
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$250,000 in sales

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who Needs an Alabama Sales Tax License

Anyone who engages or continues in a business subject to Alabama's sales tax must apply for and obtain a license from the Alabama Department of Revenue for the current tax year.

For a seller outside Alabama, the economic nexus threshold is $250,000 in sales in the previous calendar year. Alabama's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

How to Apply

You apply to the Alabama Department of Revenue. Go to Alabama's registration page.

What It Costs

Alabama charges no fee for the sales tax license.

Alabama requires security, such as a bond or deposit, in stated cases. A $25,000 surety bond, kept for two years, is required from applicants who sell beer, wine or tobacco products, and a licensee that becomes non-compliant must post a bond based on its recent tax liability. A related company's two years of compliance can waive the first, and ALDOR says sellers of other products do not need the bond.

Does It Expire?

The sales tax license is renewed every year. The license is issued for the current tax year. You renew it each year, on or before the expiration date shown on it, by verifying your account information with the Department, and a license that is not renewed expires.

More Than One Location

One registration covers all of a business's locations in Alabama. When the legal ownership of the locations is the same, the Department assigns one state sales tax number and you report all locations' sales on one return.

Local Sales Taxes in Alabama

Many Alabama cities and counties have their sales tax administered by the state, and the state then assigns your local tax number. If your location is in a city or county whose tax the state does not administer, you register for a local tax account with that locality or its tax administrator.

Worth Knowing in Alabama

Alabama's Department of Revenue says the sales tax license also serves as your resale certificate, which you print from your My Alabama Taxes account. A seller with no Alabama location whose sales into Alabama exceed the remote seller threshold registers with the Department of Revenue to collect Alabama use tax, either under the state's regular use tax rules or through the Simplified Sellers Use Tax program, unless it sells only through a marketplace facilitator that collects for it.

More for Alabama Businesses

Alabama resale certificate, for buying inventory for resale.
Sales tax nexus checker, to see which other states your sales may require you to register in.
Alabama LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in Alabama, for selling only through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Anyone who engages or continues in a business subject to Alabama's sales tax must apply for and obtain a license from the Alabama Department of Revenue for the current tax year. Alabama calls the registration an Alabama sales tax license. For a seller outside Alabama, the economic nexus threshold is $250,000 in sales in the previous calendar year. Alabama's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: Alabama charges no fee for the sales tax license. Alabama requires security, such as a bond or deposit, in stated cases. A $25,000 surety bond, kept for two years, is required from applicants who sell beer, wine or tobacco products, and a licensee that becomes non-compliant must post a bond based on its recent tax liability. A related company's two years of compliance can waive the first, and ALDOR says sellers of other products do not need the bond.
: The sales tax license is renewed every year. The license is issued for the current tax year. You renew it each year, on or before the expiration date shown on it, by verifying your account information with the Department, and a license that is not renewed expires.
: One registration covers all of a business's locations in Alabama. When the legal ownership of the locations is the same, the Department assigns one state sales tax number and you report all locations' sales on one return.
: Many Alabama cities and counties have their sales tax administered by the state, and the state then assigns your local tax number. If your location is in a city or county whose tax the state does not administer, you register for a local tax account with that locality or its tax administrator.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and tax agency say about the registration a business holds before it makes taxable sales, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own business must register: that turns on what you sell, where you sell it from, and how much you sell into the state, and fees, security rules and thresholds change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you start selling.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Alabama sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=40-23-6Code of Alabama 1975, 40-23-6, License required to engage in business; one-time surety bond
admincode.legislature.state.al.us/api/rule/810-6-5-.01.01Ala. Admin. Code r. 810-6-5-.01.01, Renewal of an Annual License
admincode.legislature.state.al.us/api/rule/810-6-2-.90.03Ala. Admin. Code r. 810-6-2-.90.03, Requirement for Certain Out-of-State Sellers Making Significant Sales Into Alabama
revenue.alabama.gov/faqs/how-do-i-apply-or-register-for-a-sales-tax-number/ALDOR FAQ: How do I obtain or register for a sales tax license?
revenue.alabama.gov/faqs/is-there-a-fee-to-register-for-a-tax-account/ALDOR FAQ: Is there a fee to register for a tax account?
revenue.alabama.gov/sales-use/business-tax-online-registration-system/ALDOR Business Tax Online Registration System
revenue.alabama.gov/faqs/am-i-required-to-obtain-a-surety-bond-when-registering-for-a-new-sales-tax-license/ALDOR FAQ: Am I required to obtain a surety bond when registering for a new sales tax license?
revenue.alabama.gov/faqs/if-i-have-several-locations-in-alabama-do-i-need-separate-sales-tax-numbers-for-each-location/ALDOR FAQ: If I have several locations in Alabama, do I need separate sales tax numbers for each location?

More for Alabama LLCs

Start and set up

Taxes, money and growth

Stay compliant

Operate in other states

Compare structures

By owner type

By profession

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.