(a) In addition to all other taxes now imposed by law, there is hereby levied and shall be collected as herein provided a privilege or license tax on each person engaging or continuing within this state in the business of leasing or renting tangible personal property at the rate of four percent of the gross proceeds derived by the lessor from the lease or rental of tangible personal property; provided, that the said privilege or license tax on each person engaging or continuing within this state in the business of leasing or renting any automotive vehicle or truck trailer, semitrailer or house trailer shall be at the rate of one and one-half percent of the gross proceeds derived by the lessor from the lease or rental of such automotive vehicle or truck trailer, semitrailer or house trailer; provided further, that the tax levied in this article shall not apply to any leasing or rental, as lessor, by the state, or any municipality or county in the state, or any public corporation organized under the laws of the state, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any corporation organized under the provisions of Sections 11-54-80 through 11-54-101; provided further, that the privilege or license tax on each person or firm engaging or continuing within this state in the business of the leasing and rental of linens and garments shall be at the rate of two percent of the gross proceeds derived by the lessor from the lease or rental of such linens and garments.

(b) Notwithstanding the above, nothing shall prohibit a lessor subject to a state or local privilege or license tax from passing such amounts on to a lessee by adding such taxes to the leasing price or otherwise, provided, however, that all such amounts passed on to the lessee shall be includable in the gross proceeds derived from the lease of tangible personal property which shall be subject to the privilege or license tax owed by the lessor.

Provided, however, the authority to pass on such amounts of the privilege or license tax granted in this subsection shall not apply to the leasing or renting of tangible personal property to the State of Alabama, a municipality, or county in the state, unless the flat amount collected by the lessor includes both the tax and the leasing fee.