Alabama GOP vows to end state grocery tax in 2027

Republican members of the Alabama House and Senate held a news conference Friday to announce that fully eliminating the state grocery tax will be a “day-one priority” of the 2027 Legislative Session.

During the event at Star Supermarket in Huntsville, legislative leaders and members of the Huntsville delegation—including Representatives Reynolds, Rigsby and Lomax and state Senator Sam Givhan—highlighted progress in reducing the tax by 50 percent since the 2023 Legislative Session.

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said lawmakers have drafted the legislation and will file it immediately after the 2027 Legislative Session begins.

“Tax relief has been a shared priority among the House and Senate GOP during my tenure as Speaker, and I am proud to say our state has more than $1.5 billion in cuts to show for it,” Ledbetter said. “Since 2023, the grocery tax has been cut in half, and thanks to our fiscally responsible approach to governing, our state’s budgets are strong enough to finally move forward with its full and permanent elimination. I am committed to having the bill on the House floor within the first few weeks of the 2027 Session.”

Alabama’s state grocery tax dropped from 4 percent to 3 percent in September 2023 and from 3 percent to 2 percent in September 2025. Following a temporary suspension in May and June 2026, the state grocery tax currently stands at 2 percent. For a family spending $1,000 per month on qualifying groceries, eliminating the remaining 2 percent state tax would mean an additional $20 in savings each month, or $240 annually. Combined with the reductions already enacted, that family would save approximately $480 annually compared with the original 4 percent state grocery tax.

“Every Alabama family deserves to keep more of their hard-earned money, especially when it comes to putting food on the table,” Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger said. “As elected leaders, we have a responsibility to make life more affordable for the people of our state, and fully eliminating the state grocery tax is one of the most meaningful ways we can deliver real relief to hardworking Alabamians.”

Alabama Grocers Association President and CEO Ellie Taylor joined legislative leaders in making the announcement.

“Alabama has made tremendous progress in reducing the state grocery tax, and we are grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Legislature for their leadership in making that progress possible,” Taylor said. “But our work is not finished. Food is a necessity, not a luxury, and eliminating the remaining 2 percent state grocery tax would provide meaningful relief to every Alabama family.”

Since 2022, the Alabama Legislature has delivered more than $1.5 billion in tax cuts, making Alabama families the beneficiaries of a sustained effort to reduce their tax burden and make the state more affordable, according to a legislative news release. From cutting the grocery tax in half to providing relief for working families, homeowners and businesses, the Legislature said it has “consistently prioritized putting more money back into the hands of Alabamians.”

The Petroleum & Convenience Marketers of Alabama, a nonprofit trade association representing convenience retailers across the state, released a statement strongly supporting the Legislature’s efforts to remove all state sales tax on groceries.

“In many rural areas of the state, convenience stores are the closest retailer of grocery items,” Neal Morrison, the association’s director of governmental affairs, said. “We applaud the legislative leadership for continuing to push this plan which will bring measurable and much-needed relief to families all across Alabama, and we look forward to working with all members of the Alabama House and Senate to get this bill across the finish line in 2027.”