Tax rates vary from one location to another depending on the taxes imposed by the local taxing jurisdiction. Tax rates are available on the Tax Commission's sales and use tax website.
Sourcing is defined as assigning a sale to a taxing jurisdiction, which determines the sales tax rate.
Sales or leases of tangible personal property are assigned to the seller’s place of business.
For sellers with multiple fixed places of business, sales are assigned to the business location where the sale occurs, regardless of whether or not the goods are delivered or where the item is stored. Admin. Rule R865-12L-5.
For example: A business owner has stores in Park City and Kamas. A customer purchases an item at the Park City store and requests delivery to Moab. The item is shipped from the Kamas store. The sales tax rate for Park City is collected because that is where the sale happened.
For sellers with a non-fixed place of business (such as vending machine operators and mobile tool companies), the point of sale is the location where the sale takes place. Admin. Rule R865-12L-9.
If a business has Utah nexus and sells merchandise that is shipped from outside Utah to a customer in Utah, then the sale is sourced to the customer’s location.
Tax rates can change quarterly. The Tax Commission posts Sales and Use Tax Rates and explains tax rate changes on its website.
Tax rates and jurisdiction boundaries may change at the beginning of a calendar quarter and are posted 60 days prior to the effective date. Sellers should regularly check tax rates on the Tax Commission’s website.
Rate changes for taxable transactions covering a period starting before and ending after the statutory effective date will be as follows:
Example 1
A 36-month vehicle lease contract requires payments on the 15th day of each month. After the lease went into effect, the sales tax rate increased effective Oct 1. The Sept 15 payment was taxed at the old (lower) rate. The payment due Oct 15 is for the period beginning Sept 16, which is before the new rate went into effect. The Oct 15 payment is taxed at the old rate even though the payment is made after the new rate went into effect. The Nov 15 payment will be for the period beginning Oct 16 and is subject to the new (higher) rate.
Example 2
Using Example 1 above, instead of an increase there was a tax rate decrease effective Oct 1. The Sept 15 payment was at the old (higher) rate. However, the Oct 15 payment is taxed at the new (lower) rate because the bill was issued after the rate went into effect, even though the period started before the effective date. All future bills will be taxed at the new rate.
The following taxes are included in the combined sales tax rate:
State Sales and Use Tax
Utah Code §59-12-103(2): The state portion of the sales and use tax rate is 4.65 percent for non-food and applies to all Utah locations. The state portion of the sales tax rate for grocery food is 1.75 percent. Grocery food means substances sold for ingestion or chewing by humans for their taste or nutritional value. Grocery food does not include alcoholic beverages, tobacco or prepared food.
Local Option Sales and Use Tax
Utah Code §59-12-201: A local rate of 1 percent is imposed on taxable transactions within a community. This tax applies to the same transactions as the state sales and use tax.
County Option Sales and Use Tax
Utah Code §59-12-1102: A county may impose a tax of .25 percent to fund county government. This tax applies to the same transactions as the state sales and use tax.
Resort Communities Tax
Utah Code §59-12-401 and Utah Code §59-12-402: A qualifying resort community may impose a tax of up to 1.6 percent on the sale, use or rental of taxable goods and services, and on the purchase of items subject to the use tax (such as items for use, storage, or other consumption within the jurisdiction). A community qualifies for the resort communities tax ifs transient room capacity is at least 66 percent of its permanent population. The resort communities tax, if imposed, applies to sales subject to sales and use tax and is included in the combined tax rate.
Sales of motor vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, modular homes, manufactured homes or mobile homes are exempt from resort communities tax, but are subject to the remaining portion of sales and use tax. However, trailers, off-highway vehicles, snowmobiles, truck-mounted campers, etc.are subject to resort communities tax.
Rural Health Care Facilities Tax
Utah Code §59-12-802: Rural counties, cities or towns may adopt a rural hospital tax of up to 1 percent on the sale of taxable goods and services, and on the purchase of items subject to the use tax(such as items for use or storage). This tax is part of the combined sales and use tax rate.
Public Transit Tax
Utah Code §59-12-501: Counties, cities or districts that have a public transit system may adopt a public transit tax of up to .55 percent. This tax is part of the combined sales and use tax rate.
Highways Tax
Utah Code §59-12-1001: Counties or cities that have not adopted the public transit tax may adopt a highways tax of up to .30 percent. This tax is part of the combined sales and use tax rate.
Recreational Facilities and Botanical, Cultural, and Zoological Organizations Tax
Utah Code §59-12-701 and Utah Code §59-12-703: Counties, cities or towns may impose a tax of .1 percent on all taxable sales and services to fund recreational, botanical, cultural and zoological activities. If a county does not impose the tax, cities and towns within that county may vote to impose the tax.
Town Option Sales and Use Tax
Utah Code §59-12-1301: Counties, cities or towns may impose a tax of .1 percent on all taxable sales and services to fund recreational, botanical, cultural and zoological activities. If a county does not impose the tax, cities and towns within that county may vote to impose the tax.
Mass Transit
Utah Code §59-12-501 and Utah Code §59-12-502: Counties, cities or towns may impose a tax of .1 percent on all taxable sales and services to fund recreational, botanical, cultural and zoological activities. If a county does not impose the tax, cities and towns within that county may vote to impose the tax.
County Option Transportation
Utah Code §59-12-1501: Counties, cities or towns may impose a tax of .1 percent on all taxable sales and services to fund recreational, botanical, cultural and zoological activities. If a county does not impose the tax, cities and towns within that county may vote to impose the tax.
Counties, cities or towns may impose a tax of .1 percent on all taxable sales and services to fund recreational, botanical, cultural and zoological activities. If a county does not impose the tax, cities and towns within that county may vote to impose the tax.
Tourism Tax
Utah Code §59-12-603: Where adopted, this tax is imposed on the following types of transactions:
Counties, cities or towns may impose a tax of .1 percent on all taxable sales and services to fund recreational, botanical, cultural and zoological activities. If a county does not impose the tax, cities and towns within that county may vote to impose the tax.
This is reported on form TC-62F, Restaurant Tax Return.
Exception: In counties that have adopted the tourism tax, it does not apply to sales of food from deli areas, takeout counters or salad bars within a grocery store or convenience store whose primary business is the sale of fuel or grocery food. These sales are exempt from the tourism tax even if the store has seats or stools for customers. However, if a grocery store or convenience store has a full-service restaurant, the tourism tax is due on sales in that restaurant.
If a business sells both grocery food and prepared food from the same location, it must determine which type of food makes the most revenue. The type that accounts for the highest revenues determines whether the restaurant tax applies. For example, if a deli’s sales of sandwiches (prepared food) are 80 percent of its total revenue and its sales of packaged potato chips (grocery food) are 20 percent, the deli is a restaurant and the 1 percent tax applies to all its food sales.
If a retailer is uncertain whether it is a restaurant, the seller should send a letter to the Tax Commission explaining why it may qualify for exemption from the restaurant classification. Admin. Rule R865-12L-17.
For more information, see Utah Code §59-12-602 and Tax Bulletin 3-95.
Motor Vehicle Tourism Tax and State Motor Vehicle Rental Tax
The state imposes a motor vehicle rental tax of 2.5 percent on all short-term motor vehicle rentals or leases. In addition, a county may impose a tourism tax up to 7 percent on the same transaction. This applies to all motor vehicle rentals for 30 days or less, except:
- leases and rentals of vehicles that temporarily replace a vehicle being repaired under a repair or insurance agreement;
- leases and rentals of vehicles that are registered for a gross laden weight of 12,001 or more pounds; or
- leases and rentals of moving vans for personal household goods.
Leases and rentals of motor vehicles that are exempt from sales tax are also exempt from this tax. The exemption is claimed using an Exemption Certificate, form TC-721. This tax is reported on form TC-62L.
Persons filing monthly returns are entitled to a seller discount equal to 1 percent of the tourism short-term leasing tax adopted by the county.
See Utah Code §59-12-1201 and Tax Bulletin 8-97 for more information.
County and Municipality Transient Room Taxes
Utah Code §59-12-301: Utah counties may impose a transient room tax up to 4.25 percent on rentals in hotels, motels, inns, trailer courts, campgrounds and tourist homesfor stays of less than 30 consecutive days. Cities may impose a municipality transient room tax up to 1.5 percent on the same transactions.The transient room tax, if imposed, is charged in addition to sales tax. The transient room tax does not apply to charges for meeting rooms.
Salt Lake County imposes an additional tax of .5 percent on rentals in hotels, motels, inns, trailer courts, campgrounds and tourist homes for stays of less than 30 consecutive days.
Counties and cities may directly collect the tax or contract with the Tax Commission to collect it. The sales and use tax rate chart identifies counties that directly collect the tax.
This tax is reported on form TC-62T, Transient Room Tax Return, unless it is collected by the county or city.
See Utah Code §§59-12-301, 59-12-352 and 59-12-353 for more information.
Waste Tire Recycling Fee
Utah Code §19-6-805: A waste tire recycling fee of $1 per tire with rim sizes 24½ inches or less is imposed on each new tire purchase. The consumer pays this fee to the tire retailer at the time of purchase. New and used vehicle dealers are tire retailers for this purpose. Admin. Rule R865-19S-93 .
Sales tax exemptions do not apply to the recycling fee. Sales to government or other exempt institutions are not exempt from the fee. The fee itself is not subject to sales tax. The fee does not apply to:
- Used tires
- Bicycle tires
- Tires attached to human-powered vehicles
- Tires sold and delivered out of Utah
Tire retailers may keep 2.5 percent of the fees to cover collection costs.
The waste tire recycling fee is reported on form TC-62W.
See Utah Code §19-6-801 for more information.
The following miscellaneous taxes and fees may also apply to certain sellers. For more information, contact the Tax Commission.
