In a recent notice issued by the Alabama Department of Revenue (1), Alabama is suspending its 2% state sales/use tax on sales of food for home consumption. This suspension is only applicable for two months beginning May 1 and ending June 30 and it does not apply to local city or county taxes.
Alabama remains one of the few states that continues to subject sales of food for home consumption to its sales tax. Over the past 1-2 years, other states that used to tax food at some level have completely repealed their tax to make sales of food completely exempt (e.g., Kansas and Illinois, effective January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026, respectively). Other states like Idaho and Mississippi continue to subject sales of food for home consumption to a sales tax, even though some of them offer a small tax credit or rebate to claim on their income tax return. Given how expensive food and groceries in general are these days, those rebates or credits have become more worthless. It would be far more beneficial to consumers to repeal the tax on food for home consumption completely. Regardless, I’m sure Alabama consumers will be grateful for the relief over the next two months.
(1) Notice – Temporary Suspension of State Sales and Use Tax on Food, Alabama Dept of Rev (April 17, 2026)