Alabama grocery tax holiday starts May 1

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Alabama’s new grocery tax holiday starts May 1 and runs by way of the top of June.

For the primary time since gross sales tax was created in 1939, consumers within the state is not going to pay state tax on groceries.

House Bill 527 turned legislation in early April. For the subsequent three years, Alabamians will get two months with out the two % grocery tax.

State consultant Mike Shaw added the holiday to the invoice that Huntsville consultant James Lomax sponsored.

According to the USDA, the common household of 4 spends round $1,000 a month on groceries. Without the two % tax, that household would save round $40 by the top of the two-month holiday.

“One thing I hear from my constituents all the time is, when are we going to get rid of the grocery tax?” Shaw mentioned. (*1*)

The grocery tax has already been slashed in half since 2023.

Shopper Kelli Taylor mentioned any break helps.

“Last month I could fill my vehicle up for 60 bucks. Last week, it was 93 dollars, so everything’s going up,” Taylor mentioned. “So, to me, any break is a welcomed break, and 2 percent is a lot more than 0 percent, so I’ll take it,” Taylor mentioned.

Alabama is considered one of solely eight states that also has a grocery tax. Shaw mentioned lawmakers will maintain pushing towards eliminating it fully.

An necessary half is ensuring the Education Trust Fund (ETF) can deal with it, which has misplaced hundreds of thousands of {dollars} of grocery tax funding because the cuts.

The holiday solely applies to the state tax. Local metropolis and county gross sales taxes on meals stay in impact.

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