HB54 Alabama 2019 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arnold MooneyRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2019

Title

Lodging tax, rooms and spaces not used for overnight accomodations, exemption, consistent with rule of Revenue Dept., Sec. 40-26-1 am'd.

Summary

HB 54 revises Alabama's lodging tax to exclude certain non-overnight rentals, sets regional tax rates, and clarifies exemptions for meeting spaces and long-term or nonprofit lodging.

What This Bill Does

It changes which rentals are taxed by the lodging tax: non-overnight room or space rentals would be excluded. It applies a 5% lodging tax rate in the Alabama mountain lakes area counties and a 4% rate in all other counties. It preserves exemptions for long-term stays (180 days or more), nonprofit organization camps and privately operated camps with educational programs, and it allows separately stated meeting-space charges to be excluded from the transient occupancy tax (with corresponding alignment to Chapter 23). It also clarifies that the exclusion applies only to the transient occupancy tax, not to other taxes or licenses.

Who It Affects

• Lodging providers and property owners in the Alabama mountain lakes area counties would apply a 5% tax to eligible overnight lodging and 4% elsewhere, while non-overnight rentals would be removed from the lodging tax base.
• Nonprofit organizations, privately operated camps, and entities that rent meeting spaces would benefit from exemptions (180-day stays, nonprofit/private camp programs, and separately stated meeting-space charges) and would be affected by the exclusion of meeting-space rentals from the transient occupancy tax.

Key Provisions

• Provision 1: Sets regional lodging tax rates (5% in the mountain lakes area counties; 4% in other counties) and excludes rentals not used for overnight sleeping from the lodging tax.
• Provision 2: Maintains and outlines exemptions for long-term stays (180 days or more), nonprofit or privately operated camps offering educational/recreational programs, and meeting-space rentals with separately stated charges; the meeting-space exclusion applies to transient occupancy tax and references a related exclusion in Chapter 23.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Taxation