ALABAMA

Alabama tax agencies

• Alabama Department of Revenue – income tax withholding
• Alabama Department of Labor – unemployment tax
• Local Alabama tax agencies – various

Withholding account registration—income tax

Employers must open a general employer tax account with the state before you can get a withholding-specific tax account number. 

1. Register online with the Alabama Department of Revenue.
2. Scroll to the “Businesses” tile. 
3. Click Register a business/Obtain a New Tax Account Number. 
4. Complete all remaining steps with the agency—if you have questions, contact the agency directly.

Once you have a general tax account open, here’s how to get your withholding tax account number. After you've completed registration, it takes 3–5 days to receive your withholding account number. 

1. Go to the My Alabama Taxes help page to get the agency's instructions on how to register for select tax types.
   • If you chose to register by mail, you’ll get your account number in several weeks (you can call after 5 business days to receive it sooner).
2. Go to the main My Alabama Taxes (MAT) page.
3. Scroll to the "Businesses" tile and click Register a business/Obtain a new tax account number.  
4. Read the "Before you begin" information. 
5. Scroll down the page to Enter company ID information or select that you're an Existing taxpayer (you'll need to sign in to your account). 
6. Complete all remaining prompts, making sure to open a withholding account. 

If you have questions, contact the withholding tax department at [phone], option 5. 

State unemployment insurance tax (SUI) registration

Your company becomes liable for state unemployment insurance tax once the company has:

• Paid $1500 in wages during a calendar quarter or;
• Had at least one Alabama-employee working for any part of the week, for 20 or more different weeks during a calendar year.

Register for unemployment tax with the AL Department of Labor (DOL) 

Register online with the Department of Labor to obtain your Alabama Unemployment tax account number and rate. You'll need the information below to get started:

• Federal Employer ID Number (FEIN)
• Date Alabama Operations Began
• Date of FUTA Liability
• Quarterly Wages Paid in Alabama
• Number of Employees in Each Week of the Quarter
• Name, Title, SSN of Owner/Partner/Corporate Officer

Once you've registered, you'll receive your unemployment account number instantly online. You'll also be given your company-specific unemployment tax rate.

Make sure to complete and file the required Power of Attorney, in order to give us access to your account: https://www.labor.alabama.gov/docs/forms/uc_power_of_attorney.pdf

Local tax registration

If you owe taxes in one of the following locations, you'll need to register with the Alabama Avenu Insights/Revenue Discovery Systems (RDS):

• Attalla
• Beaverton
• Birmingham
• Fort Deposit
• Guin
• Haleyville
• Hamilton
• Leeds
• Macon (county)
• Midfield
• Mosses
• Notasulga
• Shorter
• Southside
• Sulligent
• Tarrant
• Tuskegee

To register:

1. Go to the Alabama Avenu Insights/Revenue Discovery Systems (RDS) to register.
2. You'll need to request an “Authority Account Number”.
   • If you have questions, call the Avenu/RDS directly at [phone].

Auburn tax account registration

If your business is located in Auburn, you're required to get an Auburn tax account number. To do so:

1. Download a Business Registration Form and fill it out.
2. Submit the application by mail.
   • If you have questions, call the City of Auburn directly at [phone].

Birmingham Occupational Tax

All employees who work in Birmingham are subject to the Birmingham Occupational Tax.

If your business is located in Birmingham, you're required to get a Birmingham tax account number. To do so:

1. Register here.
2. You'll need to request an “Occupational Tax Account Number”
   • If you have questions, call the agency directly at [phone] or email them at [e-mail].

Please note: A company's taxes are usually paid monthly, unless the company has a lower annual liability and has requested a less-frequent schedule. You can confirm your tax deposit schedule by calling the City of Birmingham Tax & License Administration at [phone].  

Gadsden Customer Number

If your business is located in Gadsden, you're required to get a Gadsden Customer Number. To do so:

1. Start the registration here.
2. You'll need to download a Business License Application and fill it out.
3. Submit the application by mail to get the Gadsden tax account number.
   • For additional information, call the City of Gadsden Revenue Department at [phone].