The Jamestown ND sales tax rate is 7.5% on most retail purchases, combining North Dakota’s 5% state sales tax with a 2.5% city sales tax. Stutsman County adds nothing of its own, so 7.5% is what you’ll see at the register for typical goods. Hotel rooms and restaurant meals carry additional local levies on top of that base.
How the 7.5% Breaks Down
North Dakota’s statewide 5% sales tax covers most retail sales of goods along with certain services, event admissions, communication services, prewritten software, and lodging.1North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 57-39.2 – Sales Tax Jamestown adds a 2.5% city sales, use, and gross receipts tax.2North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Local Taxes By Location Guideline Because Stutsman County imposes no separate sales tax, the checkout rate is a flat 7.5%.
Everyday purchases fall under this rate: clothing, electronics, furniture, household supplies, and similar tangible goods. It also reaches digital products such as prewritten computer software, whether on a disc or downloaded.1North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 57-39.2 – Sales Tax
Hotel and Restaurant Rates Are Higher
Jamestown layers two hospitality taxes on top of the base rate. The city lodging tax is 2% of gross receipts from renting a hotel, motel, or similar accommodation for fewer than 30 consecutive days. A separate 1% lodging and restaurant tax applies to those same short-term rentals and to prepared food or beverage sales at restaurants.3North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Century Code 40-57.3 – City Lodging Tax Those local figures match the state tax commissioner’s published guideline for Jamestown.2North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Local Taxes By Location Guideline
What that looks like on your bill:
- Hotel room: 7.5% base + 2% lodging + 1% lodging and restaurant = 10.5%.
- Restaurant meal or on-premises drink: 7.5% base + 1% lodging and restaurant = 8.5%.
The restaurant portion doesn’t apply to alcoholic beverages purchased for off-premises consumption.
What’s Exempt or Taxed Differently
A few common purchases are handled outside the 7.5% rate.
Groceries vs. Prepared Food
Food and food ingredients sold for home consumption are exempt from North Dakota sales tax.4North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Code 57-39.2-04.1 – Sales Tax Exemption for Food and Food Ingredients Produce, dairy, bread, meat, and similar staples ring up tax-free.
The line between exempt groceries and taxable prepared food trips people up. Food becomes taxable if any of the following is true:5North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Sales Tax – Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, and Delicatessens Guideline
- It is sold heated, or heated by the seller (pizza, hot dogs, barbecue, made-to-order sandwiches).
- The seller combined two or more food ingredients and sold them as a single item.
- The seller provided eating utensils such as plates, forks, cups, napkins, or straws.
Deli items sold unheated by weight or volume as a single item stay exempt. Party trays not sold by weight or volume count as prepared food and are taxable. A cold sub from the deli counter by the pound is tax-free; a catered platter is not.
Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs
Prescription medications are exempt. Over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and supplements are taxed at the standard rate.5North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Sales Tax – Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, and Delicatessens Guideline
Farm and Manufacturing Equipment
Farm machinery and irrigation equipment used primarily to produce crops or livestock aren’t taxed at the standard 5% rate. They fall under a separate gross receipts tax at a reduced rate under Chapter 57-39.5. Repair parts for qualifying farm machinery are exempt from this special tax, though the same parts are taxable at the regular rate when bought by someone who won’t use the equipment for farming.
Machinery and equipment used directly in manufacturing tangible goods for sale can be exempt from sales tax, but only when the equipment goes into a new manufacturing plant or a physical or economic expansion of an existing one. Replacement equipment for an ongoing operation doesn’t qualify unless the replacement itself is part of an expansion.6North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Code 57-39.2-04.3 – Sales Tax Exemption for Manufacturing Machinery To claim the exemption at purchase, the buyer needs a certificate from the state tax commissioner confirming the equipment qualifies. Without it, you pay the tax upfront and apply for a refund later.
Cars and Aircraft: A 5% Excise Instead
Buying a vehicle in Jamestown doesn’t trigger the 7.5% rate. Motor vehicles registered for road use in North Dakota are subject to a separate 5% excise tax on the purchase price in place of the standard sales and use tax. No local tax applies, so the rate is 5% statewide.7North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Sales Tax – Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Guideline
Aircraft work similarly. The excise tax is 5% of the purchase price or fair market value, dropping to 3% for aircraft used exclusively for aerial application such as crop dusting. An aircraft based in North Dakota for more than 30 days in a calendar year triggers registration and excise tax obligations. Buyers who already paid sales or excise tax to another state can claim a credit, but if that state’s rate was lower, the owner owes the difference.8North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. Aircraft Registration FAQ
Online and Out-of-State Purchases
The 7.5% rate follows you when you buy from an out-of-state seller. If the seller doesn’t collect North Dakota sales tax at checkout, the buyer owes use tax at the same combined rate.9North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Code 57-40.2 – Use Tax Use tax is filed through the state’s online portal, ND TAP, at tap.tax.nd.gov. Anyone unable to file online can contact the Office of State Tax Commissioner at 701-328-1246 for paper-return instructions.10North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Sales and Use Tax
In practice, most orders through major platforms already include the right tax. North Dakota requires marketplace facilitators such as Amazon, eBay, and Walmart Marketplace to collect and remit both state and local sales taxes on behalf of third-party sellers. A facilitator with no physical presence in the state must collect once its taxable sales into North Dakota exceed $100,000 in the current or prior calendar year. After that threshold, the facilitator has 60 days to register and start collecting, or must begin by January 1 of the following year, whichever comes first.11North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Marketplace Facilitator Tax is calculated on the delivery address, so a Jamestown buyer pays the 7.5% Jamestown rate regardless of where the seller is located.