SEVERANCE TAX LAWS 
ALABAMA 
Severance Tax.! 
Mandatory. Enacted 1945. Amended 1951, 1953, 
1955, and 1967. 
Code Recompiled 1958. Title 8, 
Sees. 231(2) to (29). 
Persons subject to tax 
Persons in the business of severing forest pro- 
ducts from the soil for sale, profit, or commercial 
use whether as owner, lessee, concessionnaire, 
or contractor. 
Rate of tax 
Lumber: 
Hardwood, cypress and all other species of 
lumber25< 220% (tps Ss oR Ue Se We ee 
Exemption 
Individual owners of timber who occasionally 
cut timber from their own premises for their own 
use. 
20 cents per 1,000 board feet lumber tally. When 
timber is sold as logs and is not converted into lum- 
ber in the State, the rate is 30 cents per 1,000 board 
feet log scale, Doyle rule’. 
12 cents per 1,000 board feet lumber tally. (20 cents 
per 1,000 board feet log scale, Doyle rule, when sold 
as logs as under item above. )? 
Pulpwood, chemical wood, bolts 
Cross "tes SoU bn Safe IS as SI ea a a 
Switch ties 
Mine ties, coal mine props 
Ore mine props: 
Pines ack! ates aaa up Pave andl eet as Py ee chi 
Hardwood 
10 cents per standard cord (128 cu. ft.) 
0.6 cents per piece 
1 cent per piece 
5 cents per 100 pieces. 
30 cents per 1,000 board feet log scale (Doyle rule).? 
20 cents per 1,000 board feet log scale (Doyle rule) .? 
In lieu of above taxes on ore mine props taxpayers may elect to pay taxes at rate of $1.25 per 
thousand linear feet regardless of species. 
Turpentine (crude gum) 
Stumpwood (tarwood) 
Pulpwood chips 
Tax administration 
Reports. Sawmills, pulpmills, chemical plants 
and other ‘“‘manufacturers” including in the case 
of crossties, poles, and piling those who purchase 
forest products from the producer, must file 
quarterly reports with the Department of Revenue 
stating gross quantities of forest products manu- 
factured and other information. Special provisions 
apply to concentration yards and to producers 
supplying forest products outside the State in 
unmanufactured form. Transporters of forest 
products within, across, or out of the State may be 
required to file information returns. 
1 Known as the ‘‘Forest Products Severance Tax.” 
2 Logs under 8 inches diameter inside bark at small end are 
scaled as 1 foot, log scale, for each foot of length. Ore mine 
props under 8 inches in diameter at small end are treated 
similarly. 
34 of 1 percent on invoice value at loading out point 
(based on amount paid at stump). 
V4 of 1 percent on invoice value at loading out point 
(based on amount paid at stump). 
6 cents per barrel of 400 pounds. 
5 cents per ton (2,000 pounds). 
10 cents per cord of a standard cord of 5,000 lbs. 
Roundwood pulpwood on which the tax has been 
paid shall not be subject to an additional tax when 
converted into chips. 
Collection. Taxes are payable to the Department 
of Revenue when rendering the quarterly reports. 
Use of revenue 
Tax collections are disbursed under the super- 
vision of the Director of Conservation for carrying 
out the forestry program of the State. Provision 
is made for covering costs of administration. Not 
less than 85 percent of severance tax collections 
shall be devoted to forest protection. The per- 
centage of such collections expended for the pro- 
tection of farm forest lands shall not be less than 
the percentage that the area of farm forest lands 
in the State is of the total forest lands of the State. 
Moreover, the proportion allocated in any county 
to protection of farm forest lands for each four- 
