Alabama Vape Shop Laws & Regulations

-As of April 2019, Alabama does not tax vape products in any special way beyond standard Alabama retail sales tax. If you are opening a vape shop in Alabama you do not need to worry about paying any sort of special tax, for now.

-Alabama vape shop owners are required to charge Alabama retail sales tax rate of 4% + the local sales tax rate, which varies depending on the county your vape shop is located in. The total sales tax rate in Alabama is usually between 5 and 11%. You can search the local county sales tax rate on the Alabama Department of Revenue website here - https://revenue.alabama.gov/sales-use/tax-rates/This will help you determine how much sales tax you have to charge when opening a vape shop in Alabama.

-The legal age to buy vape products in Alabama is 19 years old.  It is unlawful for any minor to purchase, use, possess, or transport tobacco, tobacco product, or alternative nicotine product within this state.Ala. Code § 28-11-13(a) (2018)If you are opening a vape shop in Alabama you will have to set your age requirement to 19 years old.

-Minors can work at a vape shop in Alabama as long as a 21-year old is present. This would mainly apply to someone who is 18 yrs old. The law states “It shall not be unlawful for a minor employee of a tobacco, tobacco product, or alternative nicotine product permit holder to handle, transport, or sell tobacco, tobacco product, or alternative tobacco product if the minor employee is acting within the line and scope of employment and the permit holder, or an employee of the permit holder who is 21 years of age or older, is present.”Ala. Code § 28-11-13(a) (2018)

-Alabama Vape Shop customers, when out in public with the products that your vape shop sold to them, would have to abide by the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act, which basically states that you can’t vape in public places. A list of what is considered a public place and more details about the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act can be found here - https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/tpts/clean-indoor-air-act.htmlWe mainly provide this information so you know to tell your customers that they can’t go vaping all over town.

-The Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act does not prohibit vaping inside of a vape shop. If you are opening a vape shop in Alabama, you are allowed to vape inside of your shop and to let your customers pay a sampling fee to try vaping.

-Alabama vape shop owners must charge a sampling fee and cannot give away vape products for free or allow a customer to sample a vape for free. A small sampling fee such as a penny to try a flavor would put you in accordance with the regulation. Here is the exact text from the FDA website, this is a federal rule that applies to all vape shops in all U.S. States. “Retailers are prohibited from distributing free samples of tobacco products to customers. However, they are not prohibited from, for example, offering significant discounts on the kinds of “sampling kits” they now provide for free to entice first-time users. In October 2017, FDA issued guidance to further clarify the provision.”

-Mar 2019 - A bill is being proposed that would ban smoking in a car in Alabama when a child aged 14 or younger is present. This would apply to vape products if passed. https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/alabama-trying-again-to-ban-smoking-in-cars-around-children.html

-Jan 2019 - Decatur, Alabama specifically bans vaping in publics places like restaurants and bars. https://www.al.com/news/2019/01/alabama-city-bans-e-cigarettes.html 

-July 2015 - Governor Bentley of Alabama proposed a 25-cent per ml tax on vape juice. The tax did not make it out of the Alabama legislature.

https://www.al.com/news/2015/07/gov_robert_bentley_releases_ta.html#incart_river

https://www.atr.org/alabama-vape-shop-owner-says-hell-shut-down-if-bentley-tax-hikes-pass

https://www.al.com/news/2015/07/vapor_shop_owner_says_e-cigare.html

 -Our research suggests that a community coalition named Alabama Arise, has mentioned the idea of taxing vape products according to this article here - https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/alabama-arise-renews-call-for-medicaid-expansion-tax-reform.html Here is a quote from the news report: “Hyden said other possibilities are regressive taxes that would have public health benefits. They include raising the tax on cigarettes by $1 a pack, taxing vape products and taxing sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks.”

-There has not been an official mention of any sort of vape tax in Alabama by any Alabama political leaders and we cannot find anything related to proposing such an idea on any recent Alabama news articles. If you are opening a vape shop in Alabama, it does not look like you need to worry about a vape tax being implemented anytime soon.