Alabama's High Local Sales Tax Rates

0:00Here's more Birmingham news for March 14th. Alabama tops the nation with an average local sales tax rate of nearly 5.5 percent, based on a recent tax foundation report. That's the combined rate from counties and cities, putting it ahead of every other state. Louisiana trails close at 5.1 percent. When you add Alabama's statewide 4 percent sales tax, totals in many spots approach double digits. One city even reaches 11 percent combined, the highest anywhere in the country. Rates shift a lot by location, sometimes lower inside city limits. Sales taxes like these tend to hit lower income people harder, taking a larger share of their earnings than for higher earners. Experts point out this regressive effect makes them a hot topic for debate. Greenville leads Alabama cities at 5.5 percent local, on top of county and state shares. During bigger spots, mobile sits at 5 percent, hunts fill at 4.5 percent, and Birmingham at 4 percent.

1:00Tuscaloosa county charges the most at 6 percent. Overall though, Alabama stays a low tax state with some of the nation's lowest income taxes in collections per person, ranking near the bottom. Nationally, this story is shared with support from our sponsor. Press play. Put your head down. The sound is already there. So L.I. Soleypillow.com