The Alabama Data Breach Notification Act of 2018 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, and Rep. Phil Williams, R-Huntsville, makes Alabama the 50th state in the nation to require data breach notification. The Alabama Retail Association worked for years to protect retailers in negotiations…
Cities seeking to require business licenses for retailers and others whose representatives just travel through their city are out of luck under one of Alabama’s newest laws. Act No. 2018-411 by Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, took effect when the governor…
Since 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 20, Alabama has been under a state of emergency related to severe weather that hit our state on Monday, March 19. On March 22, the National Weather Service said survey teams determined at least 15 tornadoes touched down…
The Sadie Grace Andrews Act by Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, and Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, is effective June 1. The law requiring secured grease trap covers is named for a 3-year-old who drowned in October in a grease trap outside an Auburn ice cream…
Compromise legislation regarding commercial property valuations is now law. Act No. 2018 – 265 requires additional information if a comparable sale or lease transaction is the evidence being offered in a challenge to the value tax assessors and boards of equalization…
Ten weeks have passed and, technically,10 legislative days remain in the 2018 regular session of the Alabama Legislature. It is obvious by their actions, though, that Alabama’s lawmakers are gearing down for the session. This week, they sent the governor…
Proposed legislation would allow Alabama citizens to block themselves from buying guns from licensed dealers by voluntarily adding their names to a do-not-sell list. The legislation carries a $5,000 civil penalty for anyone who knowingly sells or transfers a firearm…
A $1,000 tax credit for hiring combat and unemployed veterans is now law. The Veterans Employment Act by Rep. Connie Rowe, R-Jasper, is retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. Businesses giving honorably discharged combat veterans or any unemployed honorably discharged veteran a full-time,…
Online third-party vendors that have until this point avoided collecting and remitting Alabama sales taxes would be closer to being on the same level as brick-and-mortar retailers under a bill approved this week by a House budget-writing committee. HB470 makes major…
A consumer can now directly petition the Alabama Department of Revenue for a refund of sales, use, lodging or public utility taxes. Previously, the consumer who overpaid or paid tax that wasn’t owed to the business taxpayer and the business…