Alabama Taxation

Poll tax records for many counties are generally kept in the probate clerk’s office. Poll taxes were imposed on all males of voting age, usually age 21. They generally were taken from the time the county was created. The lists are often organized by beat and then alphabetically by the first letter of the surname. Some of these records are on microfilm at the Family History Library. See, for example:

Alabama. Probate Court (Dallas County). Poll Taxes, 1901–1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987. (FHL films 1532154 item 4 and 1532155.) These records contain the taxpayer’s name, the year the person registered, and sometimes his or her exact birth date. The records may also indicate whether the person transferred to or from another county. Military service information may be included, such as the person’s discharge number or year of death. If the taxpayer was female, both her maiden and married names may appear in the records.

A microfilm collection of Internal Revenue Tax lists taken in 1865 to 1866 is available:

United States. Bureau of Internal Revenue. Internal Revenue Assessment Lists of Alabama, 1865–1866. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0754. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1987. (FHL films 1578453–58.) The counties are divided into three districts. See the Family History Library Catalog for counties and film numbers. The records are arranged by year and then usually by month.

Taxation records are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

ALABAMA- TAXATION

ALABAMA, [COUNTY]- TAXATION