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2016 State Sales Tax Rates
M C  0  6 
 The Council of State Governments
CAPITOL
RESEARCH
FISCAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
 THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
In 2016, state sales tax rates look a lot like they did in 2015.
In 2015, 45 states plus the District of Columbia levied
 a sales tax—the same was true on Jan. 1, 2016.
In 2015, five states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana,
 New Hampshire and Oregon) did not levy a sales tax—the same five states did not levy a sales tax on Jan. 1, 2016.Sales tax rates (or lack thereof) remained the same
as 2015 rates in 49 states and the District of Columbia
 on Jan. 1, 2016.Those rates range from a low of 2.9 percent in Colorado to a high of 7.5 percent in California, with an average rate 5.65 percent.From Jan. 1, 2015 to Jan. 1, 2016, Kansas was the only state to institute a sales tax rate change. Kansas legislators passed the tax rate hike in 2015 —from 6.15 percent to 6.5 percent—to address
budgetary shortfalls. The increase went into effect
 on July 1, 2015.
While little has changed since last year, sales tax rates overall have crept up slowly since 2006.
In 2006, the same five states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon) did not levy a sales tax.Also in 2006, the lowest sales tax rate was 2.9 per-cent, in Colorado—the same as in 2016.The highest sales tax rate in 2006 was 7.0 percent—a three way tie in Mississippi, Rhode Island and Tennessee. That’s relatively similar to the highest rate in 2016: 7.5 percent in California.However, in 2006, the average sales tax rate (for those 45 states plus the District of Columbia that levied a sales tax) was 5.32 percent—more than 0.3 percentage points lower than the average in 2016.That’s because from 2006–16, 19 states increased their sales tax rates.
In 2016, 45 states plus the District of Columbia have sales taxes in place and five states do not.  Tax rates in 2016 remained relatively unchanged from 2015, but have been creeping slowly upward over the past decade.
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Those increases ranged from less than 0.5 percentage
 
points in six states (Connecticut, Minnesota, Nevada,
 New Mexico, North Carolina and Ohio)—to the largest rate increase in Virginia, an increase from 4.0 percent to 5.3 percent.
RESOURCES
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 2016 and historical sales tax rates are collected and reported by the Federation of Tax Admin-istrators,
.
Jennifer Burnett, Director, The Council of State Governments Fiscal and Economic Development Policy,
 jburnet t@csg.org
 
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 THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
State Sales Tax Rates, Jan. 1, 2016
AL4.0MS7.0
FL 6.0GA4.0
HI4.0
AR6.5MO4.225
LA4.0
CA7.5CO2.9WY4.0ID6.0WA6.5IL6.25IA6.0MN6.875KS6.5OK 4.5 TX6.25UT6.0NE5.5ND5.0
AK No Sales Tax
SD4.0NV6.85IN7.0
OH5.75NY4.0VT6.0MA 6.25CT 6.35RI 7.0NJ 7.0DE No Sales TaxMD 6.0NHNo Sales TaxPA6.0
 N C  4. 75
VA5.3
WV6.0
SC6.0MI6.0
WI5.0
ME5.5KY6.0
 TN 7.0
AZ5.6NM5.125
MTNo Sales TaxORNo Sales Tax
No Sales Tax< 4 Percent44.9 Percent5–5.9 Percent66.9 Percent7 Percent +
 
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 THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
State Sales Tax Rates
Sales Tax Rates (Percent) Change in Rate (Percentage Points)Jan. 1, 2006 Jan. 1, 2015 Jan. 1, 2016 201516 200616Alabama 4.0 4.0 4.0 Alaska ........................................................................................................................No Sales Tax ........................................................................................................................Arizona 5.6 5.6 5.6 Arkansas 6.0 6.5 6.5 0.5California (a) 6.3 7.5 7.5 1.25Colorado 2.9 2.9 2.9 Connecticut 6.00 6.35 6.35 0.35Delaware ........................................................................................................................No Sales Tax ........................................................................................................................Dist. of Columbia 5.75 5.75 5.75 Florida 6.0 6.0 6.0 Georgia 4.0 4.0 4.0 Hawaii 4.0 4.0 4.0 Idaho 5.0 6.0 6.0 1.0Illinois 6.25 6.25 6.25 Indiana 6.0 7.0 7.0 1.0Iowa 5.0 6.0 6.0 1.0Kansas 5.30 6.15 6.5 0.35 1.2Kentucky 6.0 6.0 6.0 Louisiana 4.0 4.0 4.0 Maine 5.0 5.5 5.5 0.5Maryland 5.0 6.0 6.0 1.0Massachusetts 5.00 6.25 6.25 1.25Michigan 6.0 6.0 6.0 Minnesota 6.500 6.875 6.875 0.375Mississippi 7.0 7.0 7.0 Missouri 4.225 4.225 4.225 Montana ........................................................................................................................No Sales Tax ........................................................................................................................Nebraska 5.5 5.5 5.5 Nevada 6.5 6.9 6.85 0.35New Hampshire ........................................................................................................................No Sales Tax ........................................................................................................................New Jersey 6.0 7.0 7.0 1.0New Mexico 5.000 5.125 5.125 0.125New York 4.0 4.0 4.0 North Carolina 4.50 4.75 4.75 0.25North Dakota 5.0 5.0 5.0 Ohio 5.50 5.75 5.75 0.25Oklahoma 4.5 4.5 4.5 Oregon ........................................................................................................................No Sales Tax ........................................................................................................................Pennsylvania 6.0 6.0 6.0 Rhode Island 7.0 7.0 7.0 South Carolina 5.0 6.0 6.0 1.0South Dakota 4.0 4.0 4.0  Tennessee 7.0 7.0 7.0  Texas 6.25 6.25 6.25 Utah (b) 4.8 6.0 6.0 1.2Vermont 6.0 6.0 6.0 Virginia ( c) 4.0 5.3 5.3 1.3Washington (d) 6.5 6.5 6.5 West Virginia 6.0 6.0 6.0 Wisconsin 5.0 5.0 5.0 Wyoming 4.0 4.0 4.0
Source: Compiled by the Federation of Tax Administrators, reported in CSG’s
 The Book of the States
.(a) Rate is scheduled to decrease to 7.25 percent on 1/1/17.(b) Includes statewide tax of 1.25 percent levied by local governments in Utah.(c) Includes statewide 1.0 percent tax levied by local governments in Virginia.(d) Washington tax rate may fall to 5.5 percent on 4/15/16, if state legislature does not act on Initiative 1366.

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