MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – The Marshall County Commission passed a resolution on Wednesday supporting the current Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT) program, while opposing state legislative changes.
The proposed changes come from larger municipalities attempting to increase revenue gained from the SSUT.
The structure was designed in 2015 to simplify the taxation of goods ordered online when the seller does not have a physical presence within the state for walk-in shoppers.
“When it was passed in 2015, it was revenue, but it wasn’t revenue like it is today,” County Commissioner Rick Watson said.
Data presented today at the county commission meeting shows Alabama’s online retailers’ annual revenue for the year 2024 was estimated at $12.9 billion.
The mayors of 10 Alabama major cities have approached legislators, saying that the SSUT program is a threat to the state’s economy. Now, the legislature is looking to change the tax structure from 8% to 10%.
Marshall County shows more than $3 million in sales tax dollars generated from online sales last year. Watson said that changing the online sales tax structure would hurt the growth of Marshall County.
“The way that it’s distributed now, the state gets 50% of everything that comes in from the vendors and 30% of it goes to municipalities and 20% of it goes to the county,” Watson explained.” And that’s what the 10 big city mayors are trying to change. They are trying to change the formula. The SSUT tax in Marshall County is a large part of our revenue.”
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