Alabama has the fourth highest combined state and average local sales tax in the nation and the second highest average local sales tax, according to a recent report by the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy research organization.

Alabama’s combined state and average local sales tax rate is 8.97 percent, ranking it behind only Louisiana (9.98 percent), Tennessee (9.45 percent) and Arkansas (9.30 percent) among the nation’s highest. The state’s average local sales tax is 4.97 percent, ranking it behind nly Louisiana (4.99 percent) as highest in the nation.