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Committee approves tax exemption for small commercial seafood sellers, adds amendment
Summary
The House Ways and Means Education Committee gave House Bill 3 a favorable report as amended to exempt retail sales by licensed commercial seafood sellers of unprocessed catch; an amendment tightened statutory language and allowed local governments to adopt similar exemptions. Fiscal impact is undetermined.
Representative Brown introduced House Bill 3, saying the bill "provides tax exemptions for people that have a commercial seafood license that sell their own products," noting he intended it to align seafood sales with existing agricultural exemptions for small, direct sellers.
The Department of Revenue's Cameron Clark told the committee that sales to processors are treated as wholesale and are already exempt: "It's a wholesale transaction at that point," she said. Clark's clarification framed the bill as targeting small, direct-to-consumer fishers who sell unprocessed catch from their vessels rather than wholesale dealers.
Representative Paramore offered an amendment that replaces portions of the bill to reference Alabama Code sections 40-23-2 and 40-23-61 and to clarify that a licensed commercial fisherman or owner of a commercially licensed vessel is eligible; the amendment also permits a county or municipality to exempt gross proceeds from retail sales of fish or seafood in their original or unmanufactured state from county or municipal sales and use tax. The sponsor described the change as "tighten[ing] it up to make sure that it goes for commercial license holders."
Committee members asked about the fiscal note; the sponsor said the fiscal impact is undetermined and argued the exemption would affect a relatively small number of license holders and would primarily cover "mom‑and‑pop" operations. The committee adopted the amendment and later gave the bill a favorable report as amended.
The committee record does not include a detailed vote tally by name. The bill's fiscal note remained undetermined in committee records, and staff did not provide a quantified estimate during discussion. The amendment text referenced Alabama Code sections 40-23-2 and 40-23-61, which were inserted into the bill language as read aloud to the committee.
The committee moved to its next item after the favorable report. The bill will proceed through the legislative process with the amendment attached and without a quantified fiscal estimate provided in committee.
