The Indiana fireworks tax comes to 12% at the register: the state’s regular 7% sales tax plus a separate 5% public safety fee. Both appear as their own line items on the receipt, and both apply whether you’re a resident buying for the Fourth of July or driving in from a neighboring state.
How the 7% and 5% Stack on Your Receipt
Indiana’s gross retail tax is a flat 7% on most consumer goods, and fireworks are treated no differently.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 6 Taxation 6-2.5-2-2 – State Gross Retail Tax The retailer collects that 7% on the gross retail income from the sale, the same way a clothing store would.
On top of the sales tax, the state adds a 5% public safety fee on any fireworks transaction of $1.10 or more.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-11-14-13 – Rate of Public Safety Fee in a Retail Unitary Transaction of Fireworks It shows up as its own charge, not folded into sales tax. When the math produces a fraction of half a cent or more, the retailer rounds up to the next penny.
The two charges stack. On a $100 purchase, that’s $7 in sales tax and $5 in public safety fee, for $112 out the door. Retailers remit the two amounts to the Indiana Department of Revenue through separate accounts.3Indiana Department of Revenue. Fireworks Public Safety Fee
What Counts as Fireworks for the 12%
Indiana law defines a “firework” broadly, as a device designed to produce a visible or audible effect through combustion, deflagration, or detonation. The statute then breaks the category into consumer fireworks, section 8(a) items (sparklers, fountains, ground spinners, snakes, smoke devices, and trick noisemakers like party poppers and snappers), and special fireworks used by licensed professionals.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 22 Labor and Safety 22-11-14-1 – Definitions
The public safety fee statute imposes the 5% on “fireworks” transactions without singling out one subcategory, so expect the full 12% on anything that fits the statutory definition.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-11-14-12 – Public Safety Fee on Retail Sales of Fireworks That covers the big-ticket consumer items — sky rockets, roman candles, mines, shells, firecrackers, salutes, chasers — and the lower-intensity 8(a) products alike. If something sold at a seasonal tent doesn’t meet the definition of a firework at all, only the 7% sales tax applies. In practice, almost everything on the shelf does meet it.
Where the 5% Public Safety Fee Actually Goes
The “public safety” label suggests the money funds emergency services, but the statute routes it differently. The first $2 million collected in a year stays in the state general fund. Anything above $2 million is split evenly between the state general fund and the state disaster relief fund established under IC 10-14-4-5.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-11-14-12 – Public Safety Fee on Retail Sales of Fireworks So only the surplus partially supports disaster response; the base amount and half of everything above it go to the general fund.
Buying Fireworks Online From Out of State
Out-of-state sellers shipping fireworks to Indiana customers are not off the hook. Once a remote seller’s gross revenue from sales into Indiana passes $100,000 in the current or previous calendar year, the seller must register with the Department of Revenue and collect Indiana sales tax.6Indiana Department of Revenue. Remote Seller Those sellers are also required to collect the 5% public safety fee, the same as an in-state retailer.
If you order from a seller that doesn’t collect Indiana tax, you technically owe use tax at the 7% rate on the purchase. Indiana’s use tax exists to keep cross-border shopping from sidestepping the sales tax. It runs alongside the 5% public safety fee the seller should have collected.
A Note if You’re the Retailer, Not the Buyer
Selling fireworks in Indiana involves separate obligations that go beyond the tax rate itself: a registered retail merchant certificate, a fireworks permit from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, and a public safety fee account with the Department of Revenue, with monthly returns due within 20 days after the end of each collection month.3Indiana Department of Revenue. Fireworks Public Safety Fee Nonprofits selling fireworks still have to collect the fee, and knowingly failing to remit it is a Level 6 felony under IC 22-11-14-6.