Sales tax
Utah Sales Tax Rate in 2026: State and Local Rates, the 3% Grocery Rate, Salt Lake City and Filing
Utah sales tax rate 2026: the 4.85% state rate, 6.10% statewide base, 3% on groceries, Salt Lake City's 8.45%, taxable services, the license, filing and examples.
Edited by Sumeet YadavFounder & editor, MSMETOOLS · fact-checked against official sources
Contents (10)
- 1. How the Utah rate is built
- 2. Salt Lake City and other city rates
- 3. Grocery food at 3%
- 4. Which services are taxable in Utah
- 5. Worked examples in dollars
- 6. Getting a Utah sales tax license
- 7. Filing, paying and the seller discount
- 8. Remote sellers and use tax
- 9. Common mistakes and how to fix them
- 10. What to do next
Utah's sales tax rate is built from more pieces than most states'. A state rate, two statewide local taxes, and then a stack of transit, highway, hospital, zoo, resort and city taxes that differ from town to town. Groceries have their own flat rate, restaurants pay extra in some counties, and monthly filers get a discount that's worth real money. This guide is for retailers, restaurants, service businesses and online sellers who need the 2026 rules in one place: the 4.85% state rate, the 6.10% statewide base, Salt Lake City's 8.45%, the 3% grocery rate, which services are taxed and how to register and file. We checked everything against Utah State Tax Commission publications and rate charts in October 2026. The Commission's website blocked our automated checks, so we read its pages through archived copies from July and September 2026.
Quick answer
Utah's state sales tax rate is 4.85%. With the 1% local option and 0.25% county option taxes that apply everywhere, the statewide base is 6.10%, and most cities add more: Salt Lake City's combined rate is 8.45%. Grocery food is taxed at 3% across the whole state.
Register for a sales tax license on the Tax Commission's TAP site (form TC-69)
File monthly at $50,000 or more of yearly tax, otherwise quarterly
Returns are due the last day of the month after each period
Monthly filers keep a 1.31% seller discount when they file on time
Remote sellers collect after $100,000 of Utah sales
How the Utah rate is built
The Tax Commission's combined rate charts break every location's rate into its parts. Three apply everywhere: the state sales and use tax, the 1% local option tax and the 0.25% county option tax. The state portion appears on the charts as a 4.70% state rate plus a separate 0.15% state Medicaid expansion tax, which together make the 4.85% that Publication 25 lists. Add the two local taxes and you get the 6.10% statewide base. In practice no location stops there: the lowest combined rate on the 2026 chart is 6.35%.
Most locations then add more. Counties and cities can levy mass transit, public transit, county option transportation and highway taxes; rural hospital taxes; botanical, cultural and zoo taxes; city or town option taxes; and resort community taxes of up to 1.6% in qualifying tourist towns. Salt Lake City also has a capital city revitalization tax and a correctional facility tax. All of these are part of the combined rate and are reported on the same sales tax return.
Some taxes sit outside the combined rate and go on separate returns. They include transient room taxes on hotel stays, the tourism restaurant tax on prepared food in some counties, short-term car rental taxes and the municipal energy tax. If you run a restaurant or a hotel, your customer-facing rate is higher than the combined sales tax rate.
Utah sales tax at a glance (2026)
4.85%
State rate
4.70% + 0.15% Medicaid expansion
6.10%
Statewide base
State + local option + county option
8.45%
Salt Lake City combined
3%
Grocery food, statewide
Salt Lake City and other city rates
Salt Lake City's combined rate on the Commission's 2026 chart is 8.45%, one of the highest along the Wasatch Front. Beyond the statewide taxes, it includes Salt Lake County's transit and highway taxes, the county zoo, arts and parks tax, and two city-specific taxes: a 0.5% capital city revitalization tax and a 0.5% correctional facility tax. Neighboring West Valley City, which doesn't have those two, is 7.45%.
| Location | County | Combined rate | Restaurant total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | Salt Lake | 8.45% | 9.45% |
| West Valley City | Salt Lake | 7.45% | 8.45% |
| Salt Lake County (unincorporated) | Salt Lake | 7.45% | 8.45% |
| Provo | Utah | 7.45% | 8.45% |
| Ogden | Weber | 7.25% | 8.25% |
| St. George | Washington | 6.75% | 7.75% |
| Park City | Summit | 9.55% | 10.55% |
The restaurant column comes from the Commission's simplified chart, which adds the 1% tourism restaurant tax counties can charge on prepared food. Park City's total is high because it charges resort community taxes on top of the usual local taxes, though grocery food there is still 3%. Special districts can change the rate within a city; a few Salt Lake City addresses in such districts have higher totals.
Rates and boundaries can change every quarter, and the Commission posts changes 60 days before they take effect. If you don't know which jurisdiction an address is in, the Taxpayer Access Point will give you the rate and jurisdiction from a street address or a full nine-digit ZIP code.
Grocery food at 3%
Utah taxes groceries, but at a lower flat rate. The state rate on grocery food is 1.75%, and the 1% local option and 0.25% county option taxes still apply, so grocery food is taxed at 3% in every part of the state, including resort towns. None of the transit, highway or other local add-ons apply.
Grocery food means food and drink sold for people to eat or chew for taste or nutrition, but not alcoholic beverages, tobacco or prepared food. The definition also brings in some things that might look prepared: items sold without utensils by a food manufacturer, food sold singly and unheated by weight or volume, and a list of bakery items including bread, bagels, cakes, cookies, donuts, muffins, pies and tortillas.
Prepared food is taxed at the full combined rate, plus the restaurant tax where it applies. Food the seller heats, mixes or sells with utensils counts as prepared food. A grocery store with a deli, a coffee bar or a hot case needs its register set up to charge 3% on groceries and the full rate on prepared items, and it reports grocery sales on a separate schedule of the return.
Utah tax on food (2026)
| Item | Rate in Salt Lake City | Note |
|---|---|---|
Bread, milk, produce, meat | 3% | Grocery food, statewide |
Bakery cookies sold without utensils | 3% | Listed bakery item |
Deli salad sold by weight, no utensils | 3% | Sold singly by weight |
Hot sandwich from the deli | 9.45% | Prepared food plus restaurant tax |
Restaurant meal | 9.45% | Prepared food plus restaurant tax |
Beer or wine | 8.45% | Not grocery food |
Bread, milk, produce, meat
- Rate in Salt Lake City
3%
- Note
Grocery food, statewide
Bakery cookies sold without utensils
- Rate in Salt Lake City
3%
- Note
Listed bakery item
Deli salad sold by weight, no utensils
- Rate in Salt Lake City
3%
- Note
Sold singly by weight
Hot sandwich from the deli
- Rate in Salt Lake City
9.45%
- Note
Prepared food plus restaurant tax
Restaurant meal
- Rate in Salt Lake City
9.45%
- Note
Prepared food plus restaurant tax
Beer or wine
- Rate in Salt Lake City
8.45%
- Note
Not grocery food
Which services are taxable in Utah
Utah taxes sales and leases of goods, products transferred electronically, and a specific set of services. The services Publication 25 lists include labor to repair, renovate or clean tangible personal property, including maintenance agreements; labor to repair, upgrade or maintain products transferred electronically; laundry and dry cleaning when the customer doesn't do the work; and car washes and other cleaning where someone else does the washing. Self-service car washes and self-service laundromats aren't taxed.
Admission and user fees are taxed, as are rides and amusement devices someone else operates. Hotel, motel and campground stays of less than 30 consecutive days are taxed, along with in-state telecom services, restaurant meals, and commercial use of gas, electricity and other fuels. Residential energy is taxed at a 2% state rate plus local taxes. Digital products are taxed when the physical version would be, so downloaded music is taxable because a music CD is, and subscriptions to streaming services and games are taxable. Warehouse club memberships that give access to discounted taxable products are taxed too.
Services not on the list, such as most professional, medical, legal and personal services, aren't taxed. But a business that sells taxable goods alongside its services must charge tax on the goods. Photography is a good example of the line: Publication 25 treats photographs and video files as goods, so photo prints, digital files and the related fees are all taxable.
Worked examples in dollars
A Salt Lake City electronics sale. A customer buys a $1,200 laptop in Salt Lake City. Tax at 8.45% is $101.40, for a total of $1,301.40. The same laptop bought in West Valley City is taxed at 7.45%, or $89.40, and in St. George at 6.75%, or $81.
A grocery and deli order. A Salt Lake City shopper spends $150 on groceries and $20 on hot deli food. The groceries are taxed at 3%, or $4.50. The deli food is prepared food at 9.45%, or $1.89. Total tax: $6.39.
The seller discount. A Provo retailer files monthly and collects $8,000 of combined sales tax in a month. If it files and pays on time, it keeps 1.31%, or $104.80, and sends $7,895.20. Over a year, that's about $1,258. A quarterly filer doesn't get the discount, and a monthly filer loses it on any late or short return.
Separately stated delivery. An Ogden furniture store sells a $2,000 table and charges $150 for delivery, including handling and packing, listed separately on the invoice. Utah's delivery charge definition covers transportation, shipping, postage, handling, crating and packing, so tax at 7.25% applies only to the $2,000: $145. Folding the $150 into the price would add $10.88 of tax.
Try it — Salt Lake City sales tax on $1,200
Getting a Utah sales tax license
Every seller with a physical or economic presence in Utah must have a Utah sales tax license. That includes retailers of goods, digital products and taxable services, and also wholesalers buying resale inventory, manufacturers, leasing companies, and consumers such as professional firms and construction contractors that need to report use tax. Apply online through the Tax Commission's Taxpayer Access Point using the Utah State Business and Tax Registration, form TC-69. Publication 25 doesn't list a fee for the license.
Licenses aren't transferable. Tell the Commission when you add or close a location, using TAP or form TC-69B to add one and TC-69C to close one or the whole account. If you stop doing business and don't close the account, the Commission may assess estimated tax with penalties and interest. Our Utah business license guide explains how the TC-69 fits with entity registration and city licenses in Salt Lake City and Provo.
Selling at a fair, festival or other event that runs six months or less needs a temporary special event license, even if you already hold a regular license. If you're buying an existing business, hold back enough of the price to cover unpaid sales tax until the seller gives you a Commission receipt or certificate showing nothing is owed. If taxes are still unpaid 30 days after the purchase, you become personally liable for them.
Before your first Utah sale
0/6Filing, paying and the seller discount
Your filing frequency depends on your yearly sales tax liability. At $50,000 or more, you must file monthly. Below that, you may file quarterly. The Commission sets the frequency and tells you if it changes. Returns are due on the last day of the month after each filing period, moving to the next business day when that falls on a weekend or legal holiday. You must file a return every period, even with no tax due.
Monthly filers can take a seller discount of 1.31% of the combined sales tax. Grocery sellers can take the discount as if they had collected tax at the full combined rate, which makes it worth more than 1.31% of the grocery tax actually collected. You lose the discount for any month the return is late or underpaid.
If your yearly liability is $96,000 or more, you must pay by electronic funds transfer, usually ACH debit through TAP. Penalties for filing late or paying late are graduated. Publication 58 sets each at the greater of $20 or 2% of the unpaid tax for 1 to 5 days late, 5% for 6 to 15 days, and 10% for 16 days or more. A return that must be filed electronically counts as late if you file it on paper, and a return without enough information to distribute local taxes counts as a failure to file. Interest runs from the original due date at a calendar-year rate of two points above the federal short-term rate, which is 6% for 2025 and 2026.
Put together, a late return gets expensive quickly. A monthly filer owing $5,000 who files and pays 10 days late can face both a late filing penalty and a late payment penalty at 5%, $250 each, plus interest, and loses a $65.50 seller discount. Paying on the due date, even if the return needs correcting later, avoids most of that.
Remote sellers and use tax
An out-of-state seller has an economic presence in Utah once its sales into Utah are more than $100,000 in the current or prior year. It must then register, collect and file like any Utah seller. Remote sellers source sales to where the buyer receives the goods or services, using the buyer's ZIP+4, and the Commission points them to the Streamlined Sales Tax boundary files rather than its own charts. Sellers below the threshold may register voluntarily.
Utah businesses also owe use tax on taxable goods and services bought without Utah tax, such as equipment, software and office supplies from out-of-state sellers, and on items taken from resale inventory for their own use, like samples given away or products employees consume. Businesses without a sales tax account report use tax on their income tax return.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Charging the base rate everywhere. 6.10% is only the floor. Almost every city adds more, so look up each location's combined rate.
Charging grocery tax at the full rate. Grocery food is 3% statewide. Check that your system separates grocery food from prepared food.
Taxing the whole invoice when delivery is included. List delivery, handling and packing separately and they're exempt.
Filing a day late and losing the discount. For a monthly filer collecting $8,000 a month, one late return costs $104.80 of discount plus penalties.
Forgetting the restaurant and lodging taxes. They go on separate returns. Register for them when you open.
Official links
- Utah State Tax Commission — Sales & Use Tax RatesCombined, other and simplified rate charts
- Publication 25 — Sales and Use Tax General InformationRates, filing and taxable transactions
- Taxpayer Access Point (TAP)Register with TC-69, file and pay, look up rates
- Publication 58 — Interest and PenaltiesPenalty schedule and interest rates
What to do next
Register on TAP, look up the combined rate for each location, set groceries at 3%, and diary the last day of each month or quarter. If you'll file monthly, make on-time filing a habit so you keep the seller discount. Use the sales tax calculator to check receipts at 8.45% or your local rate, and see our Utah business license guide for the rest of your registrations. Selling into neighboring states? Compare our Colorado, Nevada and Arizona sales tax guides.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.
Frequently asked questions
The state rate is 4.85%. Every location also pays a 1% local option tax and a 0.25% county option tax, a statewide base of 6.10%. Every location then adds at least some transit or other local tax, so on the 2026 rate chart combined rates run from 6.35% to 9.55% in Park City, and slightly higher in a few special districts. Salt Lake City's combined rate is 8.45%.
The combined rate in Salt Lake City is 8.45% on the Utah State Tax Commission's 2026 rate chart. That includes the 4.85% state rate, local and county option taxes, several transit taxes, and taxes that apply only in Salt Lake City. Restaurant meals total 9.45%, and grocery food is 3%.
Yes, at a reduced rate. Grocery food is taxed at 3% everywhere in Utah: 1.75% state tax plus the 1% local option and 0.25% county option taxes. Prepared food, restaurant meals, alcohol and tobacco are taxed at the full combined rate. Resort community taxes don't apply to grocery food.
Both numbers appear on official documents. The Tax Commission's rate charts list a 4.70% state sales and use tax plus a separate 0.15% state Medicaid expansion tax. Publication 25 combines them as a 4.85% state rate. Either way, the state takes 4.85% on a normal taxable sale.
If your sales tax liability is $50,000 or more a year, you must file monthly; below that, you may file quarterly. Returns are due on the last day of the month after each period. Monthly filers can keep a 1.31% seller discount if they file and pay on time. File a return every period even with no sales.
When their sales into Utah are more than $100,000 in the current or prior year, according to the Tax Commission's Publication 25. They then register, collect the combined rate for each customer's location and file returns like an in-state seller. Sellers below the threshold may register voluntarily.
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.Publication 25, Sales and Use Tax General Information (Rev. 08/26) — Utah State Tax Commission · accessed 9 October 2026
- 2.Sales & Use Tax Rates — 2026 combined, other and simplified rate charts — Utah State Tax Commission · accessed 9 October 2026
- 3.Salt Lake City, Utah sales tax rates (secondary) — SalesTaxHandbook · accessed 9 October 2026
- 4.Salt Lake City sales tax rate (secondary) — Avalara · accessed 9 October 2026
- 5.Publication 58, Utah Interest and Penalties (Rev. 10/25) — Utah State Tax Commission · accessed 9 October 2026
- 6.Utah sales tax rates 2026: calculator, nexus and due dates (secondary) — TaxCloud · accessed 9 October 2026
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