Birmingham, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Birmingham requires every retail dealer of tobacco products to hold a city business license under Schedule 238 of the Schedule of Business Licenses in Appendix A of the Code of Ordinances. The schedule covers any retailer selling tobacco products "whether or not principal stock in trade," but it expressly excludes cigarettes, which are licensed and taxed separately. "Tobacco products" is defined broadly to include cigars, cheroots, stogies, smoking tobacco, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, or any substitute, so a convenience store, gas station, smoke shop, or grocery selling cigars or snuff falls under this schedule even if tobacco is a minor part of its business.

00 regardless of sales volume. Before the Revenue Division will issue the license, the applicant must present a current, valid permit from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board issued under Title 28, Chapter 11 of the Code of Alabama; without that state permit in hand, the city will not process the application. Like all city business licenses, the tobacco retail license runs on the calendar-year license year and must be renewed on or before February 15 under Sec. 3A-1-52. A retailer that misses the renewal date faces a 15 percent penalty on the tax due under Sec.

3A-1-53, rising to 30 percent if the tax and penalty remain unpaid more than 30 days past the due date. Operating without the required license, or continuing to sell tobacco after a license lapses, exposes the retailer to prosecution under Sec. 3A-1-164, which classifies unlicensed operation as a misdemeanor.