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House centralizes vape tax and enforcement; grants ABC authority for licensing fee to fund field enforcement
Summary
HB 529 directs a single statewide tax rate for vapor products, allows the ABC board to set a new licensing fee to fund enforcement, and includes a grandfathering amendment for two counties with existing or pending local taxes.
The Alabama House on April 9 approved HB 529, a measure aimed at streamlining vapor product taxation and creating a funding mechanism for enforcement efforts to address illegal vape products sold in the state.
Representative Mac Faulkner, sponsor of sections of the broader package, told the House that a large share of vape products sold in Alabama are unlawful or unregistered. The bill establishes a single statewide tax rate for vapor products and authorizes the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to create a licensing fee for wholesalers and retailers; proceeds are intended to support field enforcement to remove illegal products from shelves.
Representative Troy Stubbs offered a floor amendment that grandfathered two counties with existing local excise taxes or pending constitutional amendments to maintain their local tax treatment; the amendment was adopted with support from municipal and county associations. The House adopted the substitute and passed final passage (final tally for the substituted bill recorded 86 ayes, 10 nays).
Faulkner said the bill sets a single, streamlined wholesale tax collection mechanism to avoid uneven tax burdens across retailers and to provide ABC with resources for enforcement. Supporters framed the measure as necessary because an estimated 80–85% of vape products in the state are illegal (not on the federal registry). Questions during debate focused on the relationship between the new fee, how counties and cities would participate, and whether the bill fairly preserves home‑rule authority for jurisdictions that have already adopted local taxes; the Stubbs amendment addressed some of those concerns by grandfathering two counties that had local measures in place or pending.
The bill passed the House and moves to the Senate. Implementation will require ABC fee rule‑making and coordination with the Department of Revenue to administer the single tax collection framework.
