The sales tax rate in New Hanover County, North Carolina is 7.00%. That figure combines the 4.75% North Carolina state rate with a 2.25% local rate collected in the county, and it applies to most retail purchases from Wilmington to Ogden. Groceries, prescriptions, and vehicles follow different rules, covered below.
How the 7.00% Rate Breaks Down
Every North Carolina county starts with the same 4.75% state sales tax. Counties then layer on local taxes authorized by separate articles of the state revenue code. New Hanover County levies four of them, totaling 2.25%:1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Local Sales Tax Articles
- Article 39: 1.00%, the original local option sales tax available to all counties.
- Article 40: 0.50%, a supplemental half-cent levy.
- Article 42: 0.50%, a second half-cent levy.
- Article 46: 0.25%, a quarter-cent tax adopted by New Hanover and roughly four dozen other counties.
New Hanover does not levy the Article 43 transit tax, a separate half-cent or quarter-cent option that only a handful of counties have adopted for public transportation funding. So the local share stops at 2.25%, and the full combined rate is 7.00%.
What the 7.00% Applies To
The combined rate applies to retail sales of tangible personal property, including items you lease or rent rather than buy outright.2North Carolina Department of Revenue. Taxable Items Digital products are taxed at the same rate: digital audiobooks, streamed video, e-books, electronic newspapers, and digital photographs, whether you buy permanent access or pay a subscription.3North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-164.4 – Tax Imposed on Retailers and Certain Facilitators
Some services carry the full rate as well. Repair, maintenance, and installation services on real or personal property generally fall under the sales tax. When a contractor’s job mixes taxable service work with non-taxable construction, the tax treatment depends on how much of the contract price goes to the service portion.
Prepared food sold by restaurants, food trucks, and convenience stores is taxed at the full 7.00%. North Carolina defines prepared food as anything sold in a heated state, anything a retailer combines from two or more ingredients for sale as a single item, or anything sold with eating utensils like plates or forks. That distinction matters, because unprepared groceries are treated very differently.
Groceries, Prescriptions, and Other Reduced Categories
Unprepared food and groceries are exempt from the 4.75% state portion. They remain subject to a flat 2.00% local rate statewide. The quarter-cent Article 46 tax and any transit taxes do not apply to qualifying food, which is why the local rate on groceries is 2.00% rather than the full 2.25% local share.4North Carolina Department of Revenue. Food, Non-Qualifying Food, and Prepaid Meal Plans
Prescription drugs are completely exempt from state and local sales tax. The exemption covers drugs that federal law requires to be dispensed by prescription, over-the-counter drugs sold on a prescription, and insulin. Several related categories share the full exemption: prosthetic devices, durable medical equipment and supplies sold on prescription, human blood and its derivatives, and breast pumps along with their accessories.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-164.13 – Retail Sales and Use Tax Exemptions and Exclusions
Vehicle Purchases Use a Different Tax
Buying a car or truck in New Hanover County does not trigger the 7.00% sales tax. North Carolina instead imposes a highway use tax of 3% on motor vehicles, payable when you apply for a certificate of title.6North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 105 Article 5A – Highway Use Tax Commercial motor vehicles and recreational vehicles are capped at $2,000 per title. This tax replaces regular sales tax entirely for vehicle purchases, so the county rate never appears on a vehicle transaction.
Online and Out-of-State Purchases
When you buy something from an out-of-state retailer or online seller that doesn’t charge North Carolina sales tax, you owe use tax at the same 7.00% rate for purchases delivered to a New Hanover County address.2North Carolina Department of Revenue. Taxable Items The purpose is to keep in-state and out-of-state purchases on equal footing.
Most of the time this is handled for you. If you buy through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, or eBay, North Carolina law treats the marketplace facilitator as the retailer and requires the platform to collect and remit the tax, regardless of whether the individual seller has any North Carolina presence.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-164.4J – Marketplace-Facilitated Sales When tax isn’t collected at checkout, the obligation falls to you. Individuals who file a North Carolina income tax return report consumer use tax on Form D-400. If you aren’t required to file an income tax return, you use Form E-554 instead. Boats and aircraft follow their own process on Form E-555.8North Carolina Department of Revenue. Consumer Use Tax