Sales Tax Calculator

Use our free sales tax calculator to look up the sales tax rates for any US address. All fields except ZIP Code are optional.

Street Address
City
State (2-Letter Code)
Zip Code (5 or 9 digit)

Results

Use the form above to look up the sales tax for any United States-based address. Results will show in this box.

We are happy to offer this tool free of use for anyone needing to find a tax rate by address. This online sales tax calculator is powered by the same technology used by our sales tax software, except that this tool does not scrub the provided address against the US Postal Service database. It’s perfect if you need to look up the tax rate for a specific address or zip code. It’s a simple tax rate finder for all US address locations, that returns data based on state and local tax rates. For any address, you can find the state sales tax rate, as well as all local sales tax rates, and the combined total effective tax rate. Use the rate to calculate the tax amount for any local area based on the total amount of the sale of goods.

Rates returned by this calculator are deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Do not construe this information as professional or legal advice. Your use of this tool does not imply a professional relationship.

Understanding Sales Tax in the United States

In the United States, sales tax is calculated at the state level and below, and different states have different rates. Almost all state governments levy a sales tax (with a few exceptions). Local governments, such as at the county and city level, may also impose local taxes. This means the local rate may differ depending on whether an address is in a particular county or within the city limits. There are a few other different jurisdictions that can impact what sales taxes get levied as well. This is why local sales taxes have so much variation.

The amount of sales tax you pay is based on the total price of items you purchase. Most items are taxed at the local rate, but specific items, such as groceries, may be exempt from tax. 

If you reside in another country, you may be more accustomed to value-added tax. In all US States, while shopping, the price you see for an item is exclusive of sales tax, which means it’s not included in the displayed purchase price of the item. Instead, sales tax is added at the point of sale, such as a cash register. Similarly, on websites of companies in the US, you may not see tax get added until you check out on the site.

Businesses that have a physical presence within a state have sales tax nexus, which means they have to collect tax from the buyer. If a business doesn’t have a physical presence, but does significant monetary business within the state, they may have economic nexus, which also forces them to collect tax. If you don’t pay sales tax on a purchase, you likely owe what’s called use tax instead, but that is harder to enforce and often not paid except for major purchases such as motor vehicles.

For more information, refer to our Complete Guide to Sales Tax.

How Does this Sales Tax Calculator Work

In order to determine the correct tax rate, we first need to pinpoint the address to rooftop accuracy. Normal address-related boundaries such as cities and ZIP Codes are different than sales tax boundaries, so trying to use just the address components themselves doesn’t work.

When you enter an address above, we “scrub” it using US Postal Service address data, along with our geotargeting service, to determine the correct sales tax rate for the specific location you request. If you enter an invalid address, however, we will fall back to USPS’s “preferred city”.

Once we know the exact location, we can provide a breakdown of all taxes that apply to a given address. Depending on the location, this may include state sales tax, county sales tax, city sales tax, shopping district taxes, transit authority taxes, and more. The sum of all applicable rates is the effective, total sales tax rate for that location.

Sales Tax Automation with AccurateTax

Apply the power of our sales tax calculator and automation tools to your website. Click the Get Started button below to request a free, fully-functional trial of our sales tax software to calculate tax on all US addresses.

What We Offer

  • The right sales tax rate for every order.
  • Validated addresses ensure accuracy in rates and delivery.
  • Reports make it easy to file and remit your sales tax returns.
  • Handles sales tax holidays in every state.
  • Support for custom tax classes, such as food and apparel.
  • No sign-up fees, no commitment or contract.
  • Optional sales tax exemption certificate management services
  • Optional registration and sales tax filing services