Ohio Sales Tax Rate in 2026: County Rates, Columbus and Cleveland, Vendor's License and Filing

If you sell goods in Ohio, run a service business that might be taxable there, or ship to Ohio customers from another state, this guide gives you the 2026 rates and the rules for charging them. It covers the 5.75% state rate, the county and transit taxes stacked on top, Columbus and Cleveland totals, the vendor's license you need before your first sale, which rate to use on deliveries, and how to file and keep the timely-filing discount. Every rate comes from the Ohio Department of Taxation's county table for October 1 to December 31, 2026.

Quick answer

Ohio's state sales tax rate is 5.75%. Every county adds a local tax and some add a transit tax, so combined rates run from 6.5% to 8.25%. Columbus (Franklin County) and Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) are both 8%. Ohio has no city sales taxes.

• A county vendor's license costs $50 per location (up from $25 in April 2025)

• Returns are due by the 23rd of the month after the period in OH|TAX eServices

• File and pay on time to keep a 0.75% discount, now capped at $750 a month per license

• Groceries and takeout eaten off the premises are exempt; clothing is taxable

• Remote sellers register after more than $100,000 in Ohio sales or 200 or more separate transactions

How Ohio's sales tax rate is built

Ohio's sales tax has three layers. The state charges 5.75% everywhere. Each of the 88 counties levies a permissive county tax, and seven regional transit authorities levy their own transit tax on top. The Department of Taxation collects all three on one return and passes the local shares back to the counties and transit authorities.

The law puts a ceiling on the local layers. Counties and transit authorities can add up to 3% combined, in steps of 0.05%, so the combined state, county and transit rate can't exceed 8.75%. No county is at that ceiling today; the highest rate in the state is 8.25%.

Unlike Georgia, Illinois or New York, Ohio has no municipal sales taxes. Sales tax boundaries almost always follow county lines, so every address in a county pays the same rate. The one big exception is the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) district, which covers all of Franklin County and spills into parts of Delaware, Fairfield, Licking and Union counties around Columbus, Westerville and Reynoldsburg. Those four counties each have two rates, one inside the COTA district and one outside, with separate county codes on your return.

Rate changes can only start on the first day of a calendar quarter: January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1. County commissioners can pass a permissive county tax themselves after public hearings, though voters can force a referendum, while a transit tax always needs voter approval. The Department of Taxation needs at least 65 days' notice, which is why you'll usually hear about a change a couple of months before it takes effect.

Columbus, Cleveland and county rates in 2026

The two biggest metro areas share the top rate among single-rate counties. Franklin County, which holds most of Columbus, is 8%: the state's 5.75% plus 2.25% in county and COTA taxes. Franklin was at 7.5% until April 1, 2025, when COTA's voter-approved permanent half-percent increase took effect. Plenty of older rate tables online still show 7.5%, so check what your point-of-sale system is using if you set it up before 2025.

Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland and its suburbs, is also 8%, made up of the state rate plus county and Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority taxes. Hamilton County (Cincinnati) is 7.8%, one of the few Ohio rates that isn't a multiple of 0.25%. Lucas County (Toledo) is 7.75%.

At the other end, Butler, Lorain, Stark and Wayne counties are at the state's lowest combined rate of 6.5%. The most common rate is 7.25%, which applies in more than half of Ohio's counties.

The only county rate change in 2026 so far is Warren County, between Cincinnati and Dayton, which rose from 6.75% to 7.25% on October 1, 2026. The department posted no county changes for January, April or July. If you file semi-annually and sell in Warren County, the department has flagged that this mid-period change affects how you complete your next return, because sales before and after October 1 are taxed at different rates.

Which rate to charge: origin sourcing and its exceptions

Ohio is one of the few states that uses origin sourcing for most in-state sales. If you're an Ohio vendor selling goods to an Ohio customer, you generally charge the rate where you received the order, which for a shop is the county where the shop is, even if you deliver the goods to a customer in another county. The department's Information Release ST 2009-03 sets out the rules, and the department's sales tax page confirms that Ohio keeps origin sourcing for most sales of goods by Ohio vendors to Ohio consumers.

That makes life simpler for small Ohio retailers. A furniture store in Akron that delivers a sofa to Columbus still charges Summit County's 6.75%, not Franklin's 8%, and reports the sale under its Summit County vendor's license.

There are exceptions you need to know:

• Out-of-state sellers. Remote sellers source sales to where the customer receives the goods, so they charge the delivery county's rate.
• Marketplace facilitators. Ohio law (R.C. 5741.05) requires marketplaces to source the sales they facilitate to the customer's delivery location.
• Certain services. Taxable services such as computer and data processing services, janitorial services, lawn care, security and employment services are generally sourced to where the service is received, not where the provider is based.
• Motor vehicles, watercraft and outboard motors. These titled items have their own rules and are taxed through the county clerk of courts when titled.

Use tax follows the buyer. If you buy taxable goods from a seller that didn't charge Ohio tax, such as an out-of-state supplier, you owe use tax at the rate for your county. A consumer's use tax account lets businesses that buy regularly from out-of-state report this directly.

Picking the right Ohio rate

Step 1

Are you an Ohio vendor selling goods to an Ohio customer?

Step 2

Yes → rate where you took the order (usually your store's county)

Step 3

Remote seller or marketplace → rate at the delivery address

Step 4

Taxable service → rate where the service is received

Step 5

Report under that county code

On the UST-1 in OH|TAX eServices

What's taxable in Ohio

Ohio taxes the retail sale, lease and rental of tangible personal property unless a specific exemption applies. The definition is broad: it includes prewritten software, digital downloads such as e-books, music and films, and utilities like electricity and gas except where exempt. Clothing is taxable, which surprises shoppers moving from Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

Services are different. Only the services listed in the Ohio Revised Code are taxable; if a service isn't on the list, it isn't taxed. The list is longer than in many states and includes repair and installation of taxable goods, car washing and detailing, laundry and dry cleaning, landscaping and lawn care, snow removal, building maintenance and janitorial services, private investigation and security, employment and placement services, exterminating, physical fitness facilities, recreation and sports clubs, personal care services, and transporting people within Ohio by car or aircraft. Warranties and maintenance contracts on taxable goods are taxable too.

Three services have a small-provider threshold. Lawn care and landscaping, snow removal, and building cleaning and janitorial services become taxable once the provider earns $5,000 or more in a calendar year. The department says that once the threshold is hit, the services stay taxable; the count doesn't reset.

If you sell a mix of taxable and non-taxable items or services for one price without itemizing them, the whole price becomes taxable. Separate the lines on your invoice. Pickup and delivery charges are part of the taxable price.

Food, takeout and groceries

Food sold for consumption off the premises where it's sold is exempt, which covers groceries and takeout orders. The department's taxability guidance lists these as exempt when eaten off-site, along with bottled water bought to take away. Food eaten on site and catered meals are taxable.

Some items you'd find in a grocery store are not exempt. Soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, dietary supplements and tobacco are taxable wherever they're sold. The department's tip for supplements is to look at the label: if it carries a "Supplement Facts" box, it's a supplement, not food.

Other common exemptions

Prescription drugs and prescribed medical equipment, prescription eyeglasses and contacts (since July 2019), feminine hygiene products (since April 2020), and qualifying baby products such as car seats, cribs and strollers are exempt. Sales for resale, sales to governments and many nonprofit purchases are exempt with a properly completed exemption certificate. Manufacturers and farmers have broad exemptions for equipment used directly in production.

Coupons follow a specific rule. Store and vendor coupons reduce the taxable price, but manufacturer coupons and rebates don't. Trade-ins reduce the taxable price only for new motor vehicles and for watercraft and outboard motors traded through a licensed dealer.

What changed on January 1, 2026

House Bill 96, Ohio's 2025 budget law, repealed several narrow exemptions from January 1, 2026. They include loaner vehicles rented while a customer's car is being repaired, refrigerated food vending machines, advertising materials and catalogs, some equipment used by direct marketers, digital music played on jukeboxes, telecommunications used by qualified call centers, and equipment used for electronic publishing. If your business bought any of these tax-free before 2026, it now pays sales or use tax on them. The governor vetoed repeals for newspapers and for printing machinery, so those exemptions remain.

Worked examples in dollars

A Columbus electronics shop. A customer buys a $600 laptop at the counter in Franklin County. Tax at 8% is $48, for a total of $648.

A Cleveland café. A customer orders a $12 sandwich and a $3 soda to eat in. Both are taxed at 8%: $1.20 in tax. If the customer orders the same meal to go, the sandwich is exempt as food eaten off the premises, but the soda is still taxable because soft drinks never qualify. Tax drops to $0.24.

An Akron store delivering to Columbus. The store sells a $2,000 sectional with a $100 delivery fee to a home in Franklin County. Under origin sourcing, the store charges Summit County's 6.75% on $2,100, which is $141.75, and reports it under its Summit County license. A Michigan online seller shipping the same sofa would charge Franklin's 8%, or $168.

A landscaping company. A sole proprietor in Dayton mows lawns and earns $4,000 in the first half of the year. Once its receipts for the calendar year reach $5,000, every later lawn-care invoice is taxable at Montgomery County's 7.5%. A $200 monthly service then carries $15 in tax.

Try it — sales tax on a $600 purchase in Columbus

Purchase AmountState

Alabama (4%)Alaska (0%)Arizona (5.6%)Arkansas (6.5%)California (7.25%)Colorado (2.9%)Connecticut (6.35%)Delaware (0%)Florida (6%)Georgia (4%)Hawaii (4%)Idaho (6%)Illinois (6.25%)Indiana (7%)Iowa (6%)Kansas (6.5%)Kentucky (6%)Louisiana (5%)Maine (5.5%)Maryland (6%)Massachusetts (6.25%)Michigan (6%)Minnesota (6.875%)Mississippi (7%)Missouri (4.225%)Montana (0%)Nebraska (5.5%)Nevada (6.85%)New Hampshire (0%)New Jersey (6.625%)New Mexico (4.875%)New York (4%)North Carolina (4.75%)North Dakota (5%)Ohio (5.75%)Oklahoma (4.5%)Oregon (0%)Pennsylvania (6%)Rhode Island (7%)South Carolina (6%)South Dakota (4.2%)Tennessee (7%)Texas (6.25%)Utah (6.1%)Vermont (6%)Virginia (5.3%)Washington (6.5%)West Virginia (6%)Wisconsin (5%)Wyoming (4%)

Local / County Rate

Purchase Amount$600.00

State Tax (5.75%)$34.50

Local Tax (2.25%)$13.50

Combined Rate8%

Total Amount (Including Tax)$648.00

Open the full Sales Tax Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Getting a vendor's license

Ohio law requires anyone making taxable sales or providing taxable services to hold a license before the first sale. Which license you need depends on how you sell.

• County vendor's license ($50). For a business selling taxable goods or services from a fixed location in Ohio, including Ohio-based online sellers. You need one license per location.
• Transient vendor's license ($50). For sellers at temporary locations such as craft shows and flea markets, vending machine operators on other people's property, and lessors of vehicles and titled boats. It's valid statewide.
• Seller's use tax license (free). For out-of-state sellers that meet the economic nexus thresholds.
• Direct pay permit (free). For manufacturers and other buyers the department authorizes to pay tax directly to the state.
• Consumer's use tax account (free). For businesses that regularly buy taxable items without paying Ohio tax.

The fee for county and transient vendor's licenses rose from $25 to $50 on April 9, 2025, under House Bill 366. The extra $25 funds the Organized Crime Commission's work on organized retail theft. The department can't refund application fees, so make sure you apply for the right license type.

You can get a license immediately online through OH|TAX eServices, the department's portal, or apply through your county auditor. You'll need your federal EIN or Social Security number and business contact details, and you must set up an eServices account first.

Getting set up to collect Ohio sales tax

1. 1

   Register your business

   Form your LLC or corporation with the Ohio Secretary of State if you're using one, and get a federal EIN.

   LLC registration guide
2. 2

   Create an OH|TAX eServices account

   Set up a login, then request a county vendor's license for each selling location, or a transient vendor's license for shows and markets.

   OH|TAX eServices
3. 3

   Pay the license fee

   Pay $50 per county or transient license. The license number starts with your two-digit county code.

4. 4

   Set up your rates

   Load your county's combined rate into your till or online store. Remote sellers need each county's rate, which The Finder can supply by address or ZIP+4.

   Tip: Sign up for the department's email alerts so you hear about county rate changes ahead of each quarter.

   The Finder rate lookup
5. 5

   Collect exemption certificates

   Take a completed exemption or resale certificate from any customer who doesn't pay tax, and keep it with your records.

If you close your business or stop making taxable sales, close the vendor's license in eServices or by TeleFile. Until you do, the department expects a return for every period, even if you have no sales.

Out-of-state sellers and marketplaces

Since August 1, 2019, remote sellers with no physical presence in Ohio must register for a seller's use tax license and collect tax once, in the current or previous calendar year, they have more than $100,000 in gross receipts from sales into Ohio or 200 or more separate transactions into the state. The department's examples say a seller that crosses either line on October 15 must register, start collecting and file its first return by November 23. Any business with a physical presence in Ohio must register no matter how little it sells.

Sales made only through a marketplace such as Amazon or eBay don't require your own license, because the marketplace facilitator collects and remits Ohio tax on those sales. Marketplaces count their own sales and their sellers' sales together toward the same thresholds and source facilitated sales to the customer's delivery location. If you sell both on a marketplace and on your own website, count your website sales toward your own threshold.

Ohio sales tax for remote sellers (2026)

more than $100,000

Ohio sales in the current or prior year

or 200+ transactions

Free

Seller's use tax license

Delivery address

Which county rate to charge

the 23rd of the month after the period

Return and payment due

Out-of-state sellers can also register for Ohio and other member states at once through the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System, since Ohio is a full member of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.

Filing, paying and the vendor discount

Every licensed vendor files the Universal Sales Tax return (UST-1) through OH|TAX eServices, or through a certified service provider. Vendors with a single county license can also file and pay by phone with TeleFile. Returns and payment are due by the 23rd of the month after the period covered by the return.

Monthly filing is the default for vendors, transient vendors and out-of-state sellers, so January's return is due by February 23. The department may authorize semi-annual filing for vendors and sellers whose tax is less than $1,200 per six-month period; the January to June return is then due July 23. Quarterly filing is for direct pay permit holders and consumer's use tax accounts with quarterly liability under $15,000, due on the 23rd of January, April, July and October.

Once your annual tax liability is over $75,000, you must pay electronically. You can pay by ACH debit in eServices, by ACH credit through the Ohio Treasurer of State, or by credit card through a third-party processor that charges a fee.

The timely-filing discount and the 2026 cap

Ohio rewards vendors for filing and paying on time. If the UST-1 and full payment reach the department by the due date, you keep a discount of 0.75% of the tax liability reported on line 6 of the return. Under House Bill 96, for returns due on or after January 1, 2026, the discount is capped at $750 per vendor's license for each month covered by the return. The cap doesn't apply to the sale or lease of motor vehicles.

The cap only affects larger vendors. The 0.75% discount reaches $750 when a license reports $100,000 of tax in a month, which means roughly $1.25 million of taxable sales in an 8% county. A Columbus store collecting $20,000 of tax a month still keeps the full discount of $150. A big-box location collecting $150,000 of tax a month used to keep $1,125 and now keeps $750. A semi-annual filer's return covers six months, so its cap is six times $750.

Pay late, even by a day, and you lose the whole discount for that return and may owe penalties and interest. If you overpay, you can claim a refund within four years of the payment.

A monthly filer's calendar for late 2026

October 1

Warren County rate rises to 7.25%; check your rate tables

October 23

September UST-1 and payment due

November 23

October return due

December 23

November return due

Late January 2027

December return and the second-half semi-annual return due; the 23rd is a Saturday, so check the department’s due-date calendar

Ohio's sales tax holiday

Ohio holds a back-to-school sales tax holiday each August. In 2026 it ran from 12:00 a.m. Friday, August 7, to 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 9. Clothing priced at $75 or less per item, and school supplies and school instructional materials priced at $20 or less per item, were exempt. There was no expanded holiday on items up to $500 in 2026.

The price of each item is what counts. A $70 shirt qualifies; an $80 jacket doesn't, and you can't exempt the first $75 of it. Store discounts that bring an item under the cap count, but manufacturer's coupons and rebates don't. Business purchases are excluded. Retailers report holiday sales as gross sales on line 1 of the UST-1 and deduct them as exempt sales on line 2.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Using an old Franklin County rate. If your system still charges 7.5% in Columbus, you've been under-collecting since April 2025 and owe the difference. Update the rate and talk to the department about the shortfall; you can't recover the tax from past customers.

Charging the customer's county rate on in-state deliveries. Ohio vendors use origin sourcing for most goods. Charging the delivery county's rate is a common mistake by sellers who copied settings from another state. If you've overcharged, refund customers or remit the excess; don't keep it.

Treating takeout soda as food. Soft drinks are taxable even when the meal is exempt. Set them up as a separate taxable item in your register.

Missing the $5,000 service threshold. Landscapers, snow-removal firms and cleaners often start without a vendor's license and keep billing tax-free after they pass $5,000 in a year. Track receipts and get a license as soon as you approach the line.

Paying one day late. Losing the discount on a single month's return can cost a busy store more than its annual accounting software. Set up payments a few days before the 23rd.

Forgetting zero returns. A vendor's license generates a filing obligation every period until you close it. File zero returns, or close the license if you've stopped selling.

Official links

• Ohio Department of Taxation — Sales and Use TaxRates, licenses, filing and the discount
• County rate table, Q4 2026Every county and transit district
• The FinderLook up a rate by address or ZIP+4
• OH|TAX eServicesGet a license, file the UST-1 and pay
• Taxability guideTaxable goods, services and exemptions
• Sales tax holidayDates and item limits

What to do next

Get your vendor's license in OH|TAX eServices before your first sale, load your county's rate, and set a reminder for the 20th of each month so your return lands before the 23rd and you keep the discount. Use the sales tax calculator to check receipts, and our how to calculate sales tax guide for backing tax out of a tax-inclusive price. Selling across the border too? Compare our Pennsylvania and Michigan sales tax guides.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the sales tax rate in Ohio in 2026?

The state rate is 5.75%. Every county adds its own tax, and seven regional transit authorities add more, so combined rates in the October 2026 table run from 6.5% in counties such as Butler, Lorain and Stark to 8.25% in the Licking County part of the COTA transit district. Most Ohio counties sit at 7.25%. By law the combined rate can't exceed 8.75%.

What is the sales tax rate in Columbus, Ohio?

Columbus is mostly in Franklin County, where the combined rate is 8%. That's the 5.75% state rate plus 2.25% in county and Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) taxes. COTA's extra 0.5% took effect on April 1, 2025. The parts of Columbus in Delaware, Fairfield and Licking counties have their own COTA rates of 8%, 7.75% and 8.25%.

What is the sales tax rate in Cleveland?

Cleveland is in Cuyahoga County, where the combined rate is 8%: the 5.75% state rate plus 2.25% in county and Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority taxes. The same rate applies everywhere in Cuyahoga County, so suburbs such as Lakewood, Parma and Shaker Heights also charge 8%. Ohio has no separate city sales taxes.

How much does an Ohio vendor's license cost?

A county vendor's license or a transient vendor's license costs $50. The fee doubled from $25 on April 9, 2025, under House Bill 366, with the extra money going to fight organized retail theft. You need a separate county vendor's license for each fixed selling location. Out-of-state sellers register for a seller's use tax license, which is free.

When is Ohio sales tax due?

Returns and payment are due by the 23rd of the month after the period. Most vendors file monthly; vendors owing less than $1,200 per six-month period may be allowed to file semi-annually. You file the UST-1 return in OH|TAX eServices, and you must pay electronically once your annual liability exceeds $75,000.

Is food taxed in Ohio?

Food sold for consumption off the premises, such as groceries and takeout, is exempt. Food eaten on site, prepared meals and catering are taxable, and soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, dietary supplements and tobacco are taxable even when bought at a grocery store. Clothing is taxable in Ohio, except during the three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday in August.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Sales and Use Tax (rates, registration, out-of-state sellers, filing) — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Sales and Use Tax Rates by County — October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Sales and Use Tax Rate Change effective April 1, 2025 (COTA) — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.Vendor's License Fee Change — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Taxability — Sales and Use Tax — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Sales Tax Holiday (2026) — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.Ohio budget bill HB 96 — state tax changes — EY Tax News · accessed 9 October 2026