Washington Sales Tax Calculator
Washington has no personal income tax, and its sales tax carries a correspondingly heavy load: 6.5% at the state level plus local add-ons averaging 3.07% and reaching 4.2%, for a 9.57% typical combined rate that ranks among the highest in the US. Seattle and much of the Puget Sound region exceed 10% once transit district taxes are included. The contrast with Oregon directly across the Columbia River - which has no sales tax at all - makes Washington one of the clearest cross-border shopping cases in the country.
Add tax, remove tax, or find the rate — with current rates for all 50 states
Quick Tips
- To remove tax from a total, divide by 1 plus the rate — subtracting the percentage gives the wrong answer.
- The state rate is only part of the story: local add-ons are more than half the bill in Alabama, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
- Rates are usually sourced to the delivery address, not to where you live.
Total with tax
Receipt
State 6.5% + local 3.07% = 9.57%
Last updated: August 21, 2026
Washington sales tax at a glance
- Possible range: 6.5% – 10.7% (state rate alone, up to state plus the highest local add-on)
- National rank by combined rate: #3 of 51 (1 = highest, includes DC)
- Groceries: Food and food ingredients are exempt; prepared food, soft drinks and dietary supplements are taxable.
- Worth knowing: Washington has no personal income tax and relies on sales tax more heavily than almost any other state; its 9.57% average combined rate is among the highest in the country.
Sales tax rates by state
Click any column heading to sort. 51 jurisdictions
| State | State rate | Avg local | Combined | Max local | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama AL | 4% | 5.46% | 9.46% | 8% | 5 |
| Alaska AK | 0% | 1.82% | 1.82% | 7.85% | 47 |
| Arizona AZ | 5.6% | 2.94% | 8.54% | 5.3% | 10 |
| Arkansas AR | 6.5% | 2.98% | 9.48% | 6.13% | 4 |
| California CA | 7.25% | 1.78% | 9.03% | 5.25% | 7 |
| Colorado CO | 2.9% | 4.99% | 7.89% | 9.1% | 16 |
| Connecticut CT | 6.35% | 0% | 6.35% | 0% | 33 |
| Delaware DE | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 48 |
| District of Columbia DC | 6% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 38 |
| Florida FL | 6% | 0.98% | 6.98% | 2% | 27 |
| Georgia GA | 4% | 3.56% | 7.56% | 5% | 18 |
| Hawaii HI | 4% | 0.5% | 4.5% | 0.5% | 46 |
| Idaho ID | 6% | 0.03% | 6.03% | 3% | 37 |
| Illinois IL | 6.25% | 2.73% | 8.98% | 4.75% | 8 |
| Indiana IN | 7% | 0% | 7% | 0% | 25 |
| Iowa IA | 6% | 0.94% | 6.94% | 1% | 29 |
| Kansas KS | 6.5% | 2.21% | 8.71% | 4.25% | 9 |
| Kentucky KY | 6% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 39 |
| Louisiana LA | 5% | 5.13% | 10.13% | 7% | 1 |
| Maine ME | 5.5% | 0% | 5.5% | 0% | 44 |
| Maryland MD | 6% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 40 |
| Massachusetts MA | 6.25% | 0% | 6.25% | 0% | 35 |
| Michigan MI | 6% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 41 |
| Minnesota MN | 6.88% | 1.26% | 8.14% | 3% | 15 |
| Mississippi MS | 7% | 0.06% | 7.06% | 1% | 24 |
| Missouri MO | 4.23% | 4.22% | 8.44% | 6.25% | 12 |
| Montana MT | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 49 |
| Nebraska NE | 5.5% | 1.48% | 6.98% | 2% | 28 |
| Nevada NV | 6.85% | 1.39% | 8.24% | 1.53% | 13 |
| New Hampshire NH | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50 |
| New Jersey NJ | 6.63% | -0.02% | 6.6% | 3.31% | 30 |
| New Mexico NM | 4.88% | 2.8% | 7.68% | 4.56% | 17 |
| New York NY | 4% | 4.54% | 8.54% | 4.88% | 11 |
| North Carolina NC | 4.75% | 2.35% | 7.1% | 3.5% | 22 |
| North Dakota ND | 5% | 2.09% | 7.09% | 3.75% | 23 |
| Ohio OH | 5.75% | 1.54% | 7.29% | 2.25% | 21 |
| Oklahoma OK | 4.5% | 4.56% | 9.06% | 7% | 6 |
| Oregon OR | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 51 |
| Pennsylvania PA | 6% | 0.34% | 6.34% | 2% | 34 |
| Rhode Island RI | 7% | 0% | 7% | 0% | 26 |
| South Carolina SC | 6% | 1.49% | 7.49% | 3% | 19 |
| South Dakota SD | 4.2% | 1.91% | 6.11% | 4.5% | 36 |
| Tennessee TN | 7% | 2.61% | 9.61% | 2.75% | 2 |
| Texas TX | 6.25% | 1.95% | 8.2% | 2% | 14 |
| Utah UT | 6.1% | 1.32% | 7.42% | 4.7% | 20 |
| Vermont VT | 6% | 0.43% | 6.43% | 1% | 32 |
| Virginia VA | 5.3% | 0.47% | 5.77% | 2.7% | 42 |
| Washington WA | 6.5% | 3.07% | 9.57% | 4.2% | 3 |
| West Virginia WV | 6% | 0.6% | 6.6% | 1.4% | 31 |
| Wisconsin WI | 5% | 0.72% | 5.72% | 2.9% | 43 |
| Wyoming WY | 4% | 1.39% | 5.39% | 3% | 45 |
Rates last verified: August 21, 2026. Source: Tax Foundation, "State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026" (rates as of July 1, 2026). Average local rates are population-weighted; your exact address may differ.
Sales Tax Calculator: Add Tax, Remove Tax, or Solve for the Rate
Sales tax has three moving parts — the price before tax, the rate, and the total — and you only ever need two of them. Most calculators only do the easy direction. This one solves in all three: give it a price and a rate and it adds the tax; give it a tax-inclusive total and a rate and it works back to the net price; give it a price and a total and it tells you what rate you were charged.
Example: $100 in California at the 7.25% state rate plus a 1.78% average district rate comes to $9.03 of tax and a $109.03 total. The same $100 in Delaware costs exactly $100, and in Louisiana it costs $110.13.
The Three Formulas
Adding tax
Tax = Price × (Rate ÷ 100)
Total = Price + Tax
A $60 item at 8.25%: $60 × 0.0825 = $4.95 tax, $64.95 total.
Removing tax
Price = Total ÷ (1 + Rate ÷ 100)
Tax = Total − Price
A $64.95 total at 8.25%: $64.95 ÷ 1.0825 = $60.00 net, $4.95 tax.
Finding the rate
Rate = (Total − Price) ÷ Price × 100
$60 becoming $64.95: $4.95 ÷ $60 × 100 = 8.25%.
The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes
When you want the pre-tax price from a receipt, the instinct is to subtract the tax percentage from the total. That is always wrong, and it is wrong in a direction that costs you money if you are reclaiming expenses.
Wrong: $108 total, minus 8% → $108 × 0.92 = $99.36
Right: $108 total, divided by 1.08 → $100.00
The reason is that the 8% was calculated on the smaller pre-tax figure, not on the total. Subtracting 8% takes 8% of the larger number, so you remove too much. The gap widens with the rate: at a 20% VAT rate, subtracting 20% from a €120 gross price leaves €96 rather than the correct €100 — a 4% error.
State Rate vs Combined Rate
Every US state that levies sales tax sets a statewide rate, and most also let cities, counties, transit authorities and special districts add their own on top. The number that matters at the register is the combined rate, and in several states the local portion is the larger half.
Where locals dominate
Alabama charges 4% at the state level but averages 5.46% locally. Oklahoma charges 4.5% and averages 4.56% locally. Louisiana charges 5% and averages 5.13%. In all three, more than half of the tax you pay is set by your city or county, not by the state.
Where the rate never moves
Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia allow no local sales taxes at all. One rate covers the whole jurisdiction, which makes compliance far simpler for remote sellers.
Use the sortable table above to compare all 51 jurisdictions, or open any state's own page for its rate range, grocery treatment and national rank.
Quantity, Discounts and the Order of Operations
A till applies things in a fixed order, and this calculator matches it: quantity first, then the discount, then tax on what is left. Three $40 shirts with a 20% store discount at an 8% rate come to $120 line total, less $24 discount, leaving $96 taxable, plus $7.68 tax, for $103.68.
One caveat worth knowing: a store discount reduces the taxable amount, but a manufacturer coupon often does not. The retailer is reimbursed by the manufacturer, so in many states the retailer still received the full price and tax is charged on the pre-coupon amount. If your receipt shows more tax than you expected on a couponed purchase, this is usually why.
Sales Tax vs VAT and GST
Outside the United States, most countries use Value Added Tax or Goods and Services Tax instead of sales tax. On a single retail transaction the arithmetic is identical — the differences are in collection and in how prices are displayed.
- Collection: sales tax is charged once, at the final retail sale. VAT is charged at every stage of the supply chain, with each business reclaiming the VAT it paid on inputs.
- Display: US prices are shown before tax and the tax is added at the register. EU and UK consumer prices are shown VAT-inclusive, which is why "remove tax from a total" is the far more common direction there.
- Rates: standard VAT rates run from 17% in Luxembourg to 25% in Denmark and Sweden, well above typical US combined rates.
Switch on VAT/GST mode above to relabel the calculator with net, VAT and gross terminology and get a reference table of common European rates.
Why Trust This Calculator?
Sourced rates: State, average local, combined and maximum local rates come from the Tax Foundation's published state and local sales tax data, and the verification date is shown on the page rather than hidden.
Accuracy: The three solvers use the exact formulas above with no shortcuts, and the same math runs on the server so the numbers you see before JavaScript loads match the numbers after.
Privacy: Nothing is stored or sent anywhere. The calculation runs entirely in your browser.
A note on precision: Average local rates are population-weighted statewide figures. For an exact figure at a specific address, enter your own local rate — special districts can change the rate within a single city.