Bellevue Sales Tax: Rate Breakdown, Exemptions, and Use Tax

The sales tax rate in Bellevue, Washington is 10.3 percent as of 2026. That combined rate applies to most retail purchases inside city limits, and it’s split between the state, local jurisdictions, and the Sound Transit regional transit district.¹

How the 10.3 Percent Breaks Down

Washington State takes 6.5 percent on all taxable retail sales statewide. That piece goes to the state general fund and doesn’t change based on where you shop.² Bellevue adds a combined local rate of 3.8 percent, which brings the total to 10.3 percent.

Of that local 3.8 percent, Sound Transit (the Regional Transit Authority) collects 1.4 percent to fund light rail, regional bus service, and other high-capacity transit across the Puget Sound area.³ The remaining 2.4 percent covers city and county services. You can see the transit piece broken out on the Department of Revenue’s rate table: the “Bellevue Non-RTA” rate is 8.9 percent, exactly 1.4 percent lower than the regular Bellevue rate.¹

Cars are a special case. Motor vehicle sales carry an added 0.5 percent state tax for the multimodal transportation account, making the state portion 7 percent on vehicles with local rates stacked on top.²

What the Rate Applies To

The 10.3 percent covers tangible personal property across the board: electronics, furniture, clothing, sporting goods, and most of what you’d pull off a shelf. Washington also taxes services that many other states leave alone. Construction work, home repairs, property cleaning, and vehicle maintenance all count as taxable retail sales, so the full rate applies to both the labor and the parts on a contractor’s invoice.⁴

Digital products get the same treatment as physical goods. Downloaded music, streamed movies, e-books, cloud-based software subscriptions, and other digital automated services are all taxed at the full rate, whether you download the file or access it through a browser.⁵ A digital code, like an app-store gift card, is treated as a sale of the underlying product.⁶

Which Rate Applies When You Order a Delivery

Washington uses destination-based sourcing, so the rate is based on where you receive the item, not where the seller is located. Order furniture from a shop in Redmond and have it delivered to your home in Bellevue, and you pay Bellevue’s 10.3 percent. Walk into a Bellevue store and carry something out, and you also pay Bellevue’s rate.⁷

The rule doesn’t cover everything. Wholesale transactions, most standalone services, and purchases of motor vehicles, boats, and aircraft follow separate sourcing rules.

What’s Exempt

Groceries

Most grocery food is exempt. That covers produce, meat, dairy, bread, canned goods, frozen meals, and other items sold for home preparation. It does not cover prepared food (anything sold heated or with utensils provided), soft drinks, dietary supplements, bottled water, or alcohol.⁸ A deli sandwich handed to you on a plate with a fork is prepared food and gets taxed. A loaf of bread from the bakery aisle does not.

Prescription Drugs and Medical Equipment

Prescription medications are exempt, along with prosthetic devices prescribed or fitted by a licensed provider and medically prescribed oxygen systems, including concentrators, liquid oxygen, and bottled oxygen. Repair and replacement parts for prosthetics are also exempt.⁹

Vehicle Trade-Ins

When you trade in a vehicle toward a new one, sales tax is calculated on the price after the trade-in value is deducted. Buy a $40,000 car with a $15,000 trade-in and you pay sales tax on $25,000. The trade-in has to be of like kind (cars, trucks, motorcycles, and motor homes all qualify against each other), and the value has to be documented on the sales agreement.¹⁰

Two details catch people off guard. You still get the full trade-in credit even if you never paid sales tax on the vehicle you’re trading in, such as a gift or an out-of-state purchase. And the dealer cannot reduce the credit for a loan balance you still owe: a $15,000 trade-in with $5,000 left on the loan still cuts $15,000 off your taxable amount.¹⁰

When You Owe Use Tax Instead

If you buy something and no Washington sales tax is collected, you owe use tax at the same rate, 10.3 percent in Bellevue.¹¹ This comes up most often with online purchases from sellers who don’t collect Washington tax, items bought while traveling, and private-party vehicle sales.

For personal purchases, you report and pay use tax using the Department of Revenue’s Consumer Use Tax Return. The rate is based on where you first use the item in Washington, which for most people is their home address. Vehicles, boats, and aircraft are handled separately: you pay use tax at the time of licensing or registration.¹²

A Note on Bellevue’s B&O Tax

Bellevue also charges a Business and Occupation tax of 0.1596 percent on gross receipts across all activity classifications. This is not a sales tax, and it isn’t collected from customers at the register. It’s a tax on the business itself, measured on total revenue, so it doesn’t change the 10.3 percent you pay as a shopper.¹³

1
Washington Department of Revenue. Local Sales and Use Tax Rate Table
2
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.020 – Tax Imposed – Retail Sales – Retail Car Rental
3
Sound Transit. Regional Tax Information
4
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.04.050 – Sale at Retail, Retail Sale
5
Washington Department of Revenue. Digital Products Including Digital Goods
6
Washington State Legislature. WAC 458-20-15503 – Digital Products
7
Washington Department of Revenue. Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement At A Glance
8
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 82.08.0293 – Exemptions – Food and Food Ingredients
9
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.0283 – Exemptions – Prosthetic Devices, Prescribed Medicines, Medically Prescribed Oxygen
10
Washington Department of Revenue. Trade-ins
11
Washington Department of Revenue. Use Tax
12
Washington State Department of Revenue. Consumer Use Tax Return
13
City of Bellevue. Gross Receipts B&O Tax