Andover, KS Sales Tax: 8.5% Rate, Grocery Rules, and Exemptions

The Andover, KS sales tax rate is 8.50%. That’s a 6.5% Kansas state tax plus a 2.0% City of Andover tax. Butler County adds nothing of its own, so Andover shoppers pay just those two layers.¹²

What Makes Up the 2% City Portion

Andover’s 2.0% city sales tax is actually two separate taxes stacked together:¹

A permanent 1.0% street maintenance tax dedicated to road upkeep and transportation infrastructure.
A temporary 1.0% Family Future Forward tax, approved by Andover voters in November 2021 by more than a two-to-one margin, which took effect April 1, 2022 and runs for eight years.

The Family Future Forward tax is scheduled to expire around early 2030 unless voters renew it. If it sunsets, Andover’s combined rate would drop from 8.50% to 7.50%. Retailers collect the full 8.50% from the buyer and remit it to the Kansas Department of Revenue, which distributes the city’s share back to Andover.³

Groceries Are Not Fully Tax-Free

Kansas eliminated the state’s 6.5% sales tax on food and food ingredients as of January 1, 2025, finishing a three-step phase-out under House Bill 2106 that moved the state rate from 6.5% to 4.0% in 2023, 2.0% in 2024, and 0% in 2025.⁴⁵

That change only wiped out the state’s share. Andover’s 2.0% city tax still applies to groceries. Your grocery receipt will typically show two tax lines: 0% on qualifying food, and 8.50% on everything else like paper goods, cleaning supplies, and alcohol.⁴

Qualifying items are unprepared food and food ingredients, plus certain prepared foods. The gray area is hot or ready-to-eat items at delis and convenience stores. Raw chicken and a bag of rice qualify for the 0% state rate. A rotisserie chicken from the hot case may be treated differently depending on how the retailer categorizes it. The receipt will show which rate was applied.

What the Tax Applies To

Kansas taxes most tangible personal property sold at retail: clothing, electronics, furniture, household goods, and similar items.² Online purchases delivered to an Andover address are taxed at the same 8.50%, as long as the seller meets Kansas’s collection threshold.

Several services are taxable too. Admissions to amusement, entertainment, and recreation venues are explicitly covered under K.S.A. 79-3603, which pulls in movie tickets, concerts, gym memberships, and sporting events. Dry cleaning, laundry services, and rentals of tangible personal property are also taxable.⁶

Residential utilities get special treatment. Gas, electricity, and heat delivered through mains, lines, or pipes for noncommercial home use carry a 0% state rate, as do propane, coal, wood, and other residential heating fuels. The local 2.0% city tax may still apply, so a utility bill won’t be entirely sales-tax-free. Commercial utility customers pay the full rate.⁶

What’s Exempt

Kansas doesn’t tax most professional services. Fees to a lawyer, doctor, dentist, or accountant fall outside the Retailers’ Sales Tax Act because the law taxes specific enumerated services rather than professional labor generally. If a service isn’t listed in K.S.A. 79-3603, it isn’t taxed.

Labor for residential construction, remodeling, renovation, and repair is also exempt. The materials a contractor buys for the job are taxable at the point the contractor purchases them, so a kitchen remodel bill won’t show sales tax on the labor line, but the lumber and fixtures were taxed up the chain.⁷

Goods bought for resale are exempt at wholesale. Retailers and manufacturers give the seller an exemption certificate, so tax gets collected once, from the final consumer. Raw materials and components that become part of a finished product for sale are treated the same way.⁸

Buying From Out-of-State Sellers

If you buy from an out-of-state seller that doesn’t collect Kansas sales tax and bring the item home to Andover, you owe Kansas “compensating use tax” at the same 8.50% rate. You get a credit for any sales tax already paid to another state, so you only owe the difference.⁹

This usually comes up with large purchases like vehicles, furniture, or equipment bought while traveling. Use tax is reported on Form CT-10U, filed with the Kansas Department of Revenue by the 25th of the month following the purchase.⁹

Most major online retailers already collect Kansas tax at checkout because of the state’s economic nexus rule: out-of-state sellers that exceed $100,000 in cumulative gross receipts from Kansas customers during the current or prior calendar year must register, collect, and remit. Both taxable and exempt sales count toward that figure.¹⁰ So the use tax obligation mostly affects purchases from smaller sellers or in-person buys made out of state.

If You’re Selling in Andover

Any business making retail sales in Andover needs a Kansas sales tax registration. There’s no fee to register. Filing frequency depends on how much tax you collected the previous calendar year: annually for liability up to $1,000, quarterly for $1,000.01 to $5,000, and monthly for anything above $5,000.¹¹ Returns are due by the 25th of the month after the reporting period closes, and you must file even in periods with no taxable sales. Late filings run 1% of the unpaid balance per month, up to a 24% maximum, with interest added at a rate the Department of Revenue sets each year.

1
City of Andover, Kansas. Finance Department
2
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-3603 – Retailers Sales Tax Imposed Rate
3
Kansas Department of Revenue. Sales (Retailers)
4
Kansas Office of the Governor. Governor Kelly Announces Food Sales Tax Completely Eliminated
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Kansas Department of Revenue. Kansas Sales and Use Tax – Food Sales Tax Rate Reduction
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Kansas Statutes. Kansas Code 79-3603 – Retailers Sales Tax Imposed Rate
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Kansas Department of Revenue. Business Taxes for Contractors
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Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-3606 – Property and Services Exempt From Tax
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Kansas Department of Revenue. Consumers Compensating Use Tax CT-10U
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Kansas Department of Revenue. Notice 21-17 Remote Sellers
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Kansas Department of Revenue. Frequently Asked Questions About Sales