County Commission advocates to keep SSUT program as is
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
During Tuesday’s meeting of the County Commission, commissioners joined other counties across the state in advocating for the Alabama Legislature to oppose any legislative changes that would disrupt the Simplified Sellers Use Tax, or SSUT, program’s operations.
At the meeting commissioners unanimously approved and adopted a resolution “encouraging the Alabama Legislature to oppose any legislative changes that would disrupt the SSUT program’s operations or call the program’s constitutionality into question.”
The resolution, which was formed by the Association of County Commissions of Alabama and presented at the recent 2025 ACCA Summer Convention, states that the program is under attack by a small group of mayors who are critical of the tax. The association called for a defense of the SSUT program in its current form and encouraged county commissions across the state to adopt a resolution to that effect.
Legislative Act 2015-448, titled the “Simplified Seller Use Tax Remittance Act,” allows eligible sellers to participate in a program to collect, report and remit a flat 8% sellers use tax on all sales made into Alabama.
An eligible seller is one that “sells tangible personal property or a service into the state of Alabama from an inventory or location outside the state, but does not have a physical presence in the state.”
Enacted in 2015, the SSUT program collects online sales taxes which generate more revenue for the state, counties and municipalities.
The resolution states that since the program’s enactment it has provided more than $4.2 billion in essential revenue to the Alabama General Fund, the Alabama Education Trust Fund, the state’s 67 county governments, and the state’s municipal governments.
As of press time, for this year the SSUT has brought in $268,699.90 for Coosa County, and from last September to date it has brought in nearly $400,000 in revenue for the county.
Since January 2016 the program has generated more than $1 million in revenue for Coosa County, with the revenue from January 2016 to date totaling $1,876,216.15.
The program provides a regular stream of revenue with SSUT amounts being distributed monthly. Of the 8% tax collected, the state receives 50%, all counties receive 20%, and all municipalities receive 30%. While counties and municipalities across the state share the revenue brought in by the program, the state splits its received revenue with 75% going into the state’s general fund and 25% into the Education Trust Fund.
County Administrator Amy Gilliland explained that the county receives between $19,000 and $42,000 per month, with it being based on internet sales that are delivered within the county ZIP codes.
Overall the amount brought in by the SSUT program has continued to grow steadily each year as more people utilize online shopping.
The resolution adopted by the Commission also noted that in South Dakota v. Wayfair in 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court held that the state may collect taxes from sellers that have a “substantial nexus” in the state, even when there is no physical presence, “provided that the tax does not impose an undue burden on interstate commerce.” The resolution further reads that the SSUT program is designed to “fall within the U.S. Supreme Court’s guidelines and has been a model for other states across the country.”
The resolution also notes that “challenges to and attacks upon the SSUT program place essential revenue at risk for all levels of government, and, therefore, are a threat to our state’s continued growth.”
In part, the resolution reads that, “The Coosa County Commission fully supports the current SSUT program as an efficient, constitutional and operationally effective process for collecting use taxes due on behalf of Alabama consumers who utilize eligible sellers for delivery of taxable products into Alabama… that the revenue generated by the SSUT program will continue to support essential government services in the county… [and] that the Coosa County Commission fully supports the use of population data to allocate the county portion of the revenue among our state’s 67 county governments as is currently provided by law.”
Separate from the County Commission’s adopted resolution and overview of the county’s revenue from the SSUT program, the county’s three municipalities have also benefited from revenue generated by the SSUT program as more residents turn to online shopping.
For this year alone, to date Goodwater has received $81,547.05; Kellyton has received $8,148.40; and Rockford has received $22,044.85.
For coverage of the remainder of Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, see next week’s edition.
