Auburn, AL Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

Sec. 12-17(a) is the classification rule underlying Auburn's whole business license schedule: every business is sorted according to the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) based on its actual business activity, and the city uses that classification for auditing and enforcement, and to determine which of the 21 numbered categories in Sec. 12-17(b) and its rate schedule applies. The baseline rule in Sec. 12-17 sets every business's license fee at $100 or a percentage of total gross receipts, whichever is greater, unless a specific category carries its own exemption or flat fee; every business also owes a separate state-mandated issuance fee on top of the license fee.

The 21 categories span very different rates: Category 1, Wholesalers, pays 1/50 of one percent of gross receipts; Category 6, Manufacturing, is tiered, 3/1000 of one percent up to $25,000,000 in receipts and 1/10000 of one percent above that; Category 19, Waste Management, pays a flat 3 percent of gross receipts; and Category 21, Short Term Rental, pays one-fourth of one percent. Because the NAICS code drives which category and rate a business falls into, misclassification changes the fee owed, and the city can audit a business's actual activity against its declared NAICS classification to correct the category and recompute the license tax.