Bruce Ely Quoted in 1819 News on Potential Repeal of Municipal Occupational Taxes in Alabama

September, 2022 - Birmingham, Alabama

Bradley partner Bruce Ely was quoted in 1819 News on Alabama Sen. Andrew Jones’ proposed bill to gradually repeal all municipal occupational taxes, which is an additional tax imposed in certain cities in Alabama that’s withheld from the salaries of employees who work in that city, even if only periodically or temporarily.

Ely said he was “hoping somebody would challenge the [City of Birmingham] tax,” but he hasn’t heard of any pending lawsuits against Birmingham yet, where there is a 1% occupational tax on workers employed in the city that is projected to produce nearly 20% of total revenue for the City in the 2023 fiscal year.

“I suspect that's largely because the employer must join in the suit since it's the withholding and remitting agent, but most employers simply don't want to get involved with challenging the validity of a tax that's not theirs and is usually relatively small in amount,” Ely stated to 1819 News. “And they often don't want to raise the ire of city government.”

The complete article, "State Senator Jones Plans bill to Phase Out Occupational Taxes,” was published by 1819 News on September 27, 2022.

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