Kern County Sales Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Use Tax

The Kern County sales tax starts at the California minimum of 7.25 percent and climbs as high as 9.25 percent depending on which city you’re buying in. Most of the county, including Bakersfield and the unincorporated areas, sits at 8.25 percent. Ridgecrest is the highest at 9.25 percent, and Shafter is the only city still at the 7.25 percent floor.

Rates by City

California sets a statewide minimum of 7.25 percent under the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law. On top of that, cities and special districts can add voter-approved Transactions and Use Taxes ranging from 0.10 percent to 2.00 percent.¹ That’s what produces the spread across Kern County.

As of April 2026:²

Ridgecrest: 9.25 percent
Bakersfield: 8.25 percent
Delano: 8.25 percent
Arvin: 8.25 percent
Taft: 8.25 percent
Tehachapi: 8.25 percent
Wasco: 8.25 percent
Kern County unincorporated areas: 8.25 percent
Shafter: 7.25 percent

The rate that applies to a given sale depends on the specific street address of the sale or delivery, not just the city name. A business two blocks from a city boundary may charge a different rate than one just inside the line. The CDTFA offers an address-based lookup if you need to confirm.²

What You Pay Tax On and What You Don’t

Sales tax applies to physical goods: furniture, electronics, clothing, building materials, and most other retail merchandise. Services that don’t involve creating or repairing a physical product, like consulting or legal advice, generally fall outside the sales tax.³

Groceries

Most food bought for home consumption is exempt. That covers produce, meat, dairy, eggs, cereals, canned goods, and bottled water. The exemption disappears once the food is served as a meal, eaten at tables or counters on the premises, sold through a vending machine, or purchased somewhere you pay admission to enter. A sandwich from a grocery deli counter eaten in the store’s seating area is taxable; the same sandwich taken home is not. Carbonated beverages and alcohol are always taxable regardless of where you consume them.⁴

Prescription Medicines

Prescription medications filled by a pharmacist are exempt, as are medicines furnished directly by a licensed physician, dentist, or podiatrist for patient treatment. Over-the-counter drugs that don’t require a prescription are taxable.⁵

Private Sales Between Individuals

If you sell personal belongings in a one-off transaction and aren’t in the business of selling goods, the sale may qualify as an “occasional sale” and escape sales tax. This is the rule that keeps most garage sales and private sales tax-free. It does not cover vehicles, boats, aircraft, or mobile homes, which remain taxable regardless of whether the seller is a business.⁶

Use Tax on Online and Out-of-State Purchases

Use tax kicks in whenever you buy a taxable item but no California sales tax (or not enough of it) was collected at the point of sale. The most common triggers are out-of-state purchases, online orders from sellers who didn’t charge the full local rate, and private-party vehicle purchases.

Most major online retailers already collect the correct Kern County district taxes at checkout, because any out-of-state seller doing more than $500,000 in gross sales into California is required to collect.⁷ When a smaller seller doesn’t collect, you owe use tax on the purchase and can report it on your California state income tax return.⁸

Vehicles work differently. You pay the use tax when you register with the DMV, not on your income tax return. If you already paid sales tax in another state, California credits that amount and you owe only the difference. For example, if you paid $1,500 in another state and owe $2,000 in California use tax, you pay the remaining $500.⁹ Vessels and aircraft follow the same rule: use tax goes through the DMV or CDTFA directly, not your income tax return.⁸

If You Sell Goods: Permits and Filing

Any business that sells or leases physical goods in California needs a seller’s permit from the CDTFA. That applies whether you run a storefront in Bakersfield, sell at a weekend farmers market, or ship products from a home-based operation in Tehachapi.¹⁰

Buying goods purely for resale is different: you give your supplier a completed CDTFA Form 230 (resale certificate) listing your seller’s permit number, and the tax gets collected later when you sell to the end consumer. You can’t use a resale certificate for items your business actually consumes, like office supplies, cleaning products, or equipment.¹⁰

Filing Schedule

The CDTFA assigns your filing frequency based on your sales volume. Most small businesses file quarterly, with returns due on the last day of the month after the quarter ends: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Higher-volume businesses file monthly, with each return due on the last day of the following month. When a due date lands on a weekend or state holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.¹¹

Businesses averaging $17,000 or more in monthly taxable sales must also make tax prepayments during the quarter rather than only settling up at the end.¹²

Records

Keep business records for at least four years. That includes cash register tapes, purchase invoices, sales invoices, shipping documents, resale certificates, and tax return worksheets. If an audit is underway, hold everything covering the audit period until it closes, even if that stretches beyond four years.¹³

Penalties for Late Filing or Payment

Missing a deadline costs real money. The CDTFA imposes a 10 percent penalty for filing a return late and a separate 10 percent penalty for paying late. When both happen on the same return, the combined penalty caps at 10 percent of the tax due for that period, not 20 percent.¹⁴

Interest runs on top of penalties. For 2026, the CDTFA charges 10 percent annual interest on unpaid balances, calculated from the original due date until payment.¹⁵

Asking for Relief

The CDTFA will consider waiving penalties if you can show the failure was due to circumstances beyond your control. You generally need to pay the full tax liability before the agency processes the request, and even if the penalty is waived, interest still runs from the original due date. Businesses affected by a declared disaster can request a three-month extension on filing and payment with penalties waived during that window. Non-disaster extensions are limited to one month.¹⁶

Interest relief is much harder to get. The CDTFA will waive interest only when the delay was caused by an error on the agency’s own part, not the taxpayer’s.¹⁶

1
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rate Information
2
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Revenue and Taxation Code 6016 – Tangible Personal Property
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 6359
5
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Revenue and Taxation Code 6369 – Prescription Medicines
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Law – Section 6367
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Use Tax Collection Requirements Based on Sales into California Due to the Wayfair Decision
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California Use Tax
9
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Tax Guide for Purchasers of Vehicles
10
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Frequently Asked Questions – Sellers Permit
11
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Filing Dates for Sales and Use Tax Returns
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Estimate Business Taxes and Prepayments
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Tax Guide for Home-Based Businesses – Managing Your Sales
14
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Trouble Paying Taxes
15
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Interest Rates
16
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Relief Request Help