HB552 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Matthew HammettRepresentative

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Covington County, county excise tax levied on vapor products, vaping devices, alternative nicotine products, and psychoactive cannabinoids

Summary

HB552 would allow Covington County to levy a 5% excise tax on certain vaping and nicotine products and psychoactive cannabinoids, with penalties and local collection, starting October 1, 2025.

What This Bill Does

The bill imposes a 5% county tax on the gross receipts from retail sales of vapor products, vaping devices, alternative nicotine products, and psychoactive cannabinoids sold in Covington County. Sellers must collect the tax from buyers and remit it to the county, and may be fined if they fail to do so or if they try to absorb the tax. Proceeds (and any fines) go to the county general fund, and the county commission will set the tax remittance start date and may charge interest on late payments.

Who It Affects

• Retailers, dealers, distributors, and other sellers in Covington County, who must add the 5% tax to the sale price, collect it from customers, and remit it to the county or face penalties.
• Residents and other purchasers in Covington County who buy these taxed products, who will pay the 5% tax as part of their purchase price.

Key Provisions

• Defines key terms: alternative nicotine product, psychoactive cannabinoid, vaping device, and vapor product to specify what items are taxed.
• Imposes a county excise tax of 5% on the gross proceeds of sales of these products sold at retail in Covington County; tax revenue goes to the county general fund.
• Requires sellers to collect the tax, charge it to customers, and remits the tax to the county; creates civil penalties of at least $250 per violation for noncompliance; each violation is a separate offense; fines go to the county general fund.
• Allows the county to set the start date for tax remittance, assess interest on delinquencies, and empowers county officials to take necessary actions to enforce the tax.
• Effective date: the act becomes law on October 1, 2025.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Covington County