Enter your city and zip code below to find the combined sales tax rate for a location. If you’d like to calculate sales tax with product exemptions, sourcing logic, and shipping taxability, use our sales tax API demo.
Forty-five states and Washington D.C. all have a sales tax. Find out what each state has to say about sales tax here. Sales tax is governed at the state level, meaning each state sets their own laws and rules when it comes to sales tax. There is no "national" or "federal" sales tax.
Each state with a sales tax has a statewide sales tax rate. States use sales tax to pay for budget items like roads and public safety. The state sales tax rate is the rate that is charged on tangible personal property (and sometimes services) across the state. These usually range from 4-7%. For example, the state rate in New York is 4% while the state sales tax rate in Tennessee is 7%.
In some states, the sales tax rate stops at the state level. Ten states don’t have local sales tax rates, so if you make a sale to a buyer in one of those states (Ex: Michigan), then you’d just charge them the Michigan state sales tax rate of 6%.
Other states allow local areas such as counties and cities to set a sales tax rate. In this case, you may collect a state sales tax rate, but also a percentage set by the county or city.
Some states may have another type of rate — as a special taxing district. Just like states use sales tax to pay for public safety, etc. so do local areas. They may raise sales tax if they’re in a budget crunch, or join with several surrounding areas to create a special, limited time sales tax to pay for a publicly-funded venture, like a new school, park, or rail system.
Example: Centennial, Colorado’s total sales tax rate is 6.75%. But that rate is made up of many different rates, such as:
| Colorado State Rate | 2.9% |
| Arapahoe County | 0.25% |
| City of Centennial | 2.5% |
| Regional Transportation District Tax 1 | 1% |
| Scientific and Cultural Facilities Disctrict | 0.1% |
| Total | 6.75% |
As you can see, buyers in Centennial, CO pay not just state, city and county sales tax rates but also two separate district taxes.
Automate sales tax compliance with TaxJar
Import your sales order history every night, be reminded of filing deadlines, and get the local sales tax breakdowns you need in order to file sales tax with each state.